By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) ended on a negative note on Tuesday, bringing an end to the three-day positive momentum at the market.
Business Post reports that investors embarked on profit taking today and this left the stock market going down by 0.52 percent at the close of trading activities.
The All-Share Index (ASI) reduced today by 192.53 points to close at 36,600.07 points, while the market capitalisation depreciated by N67 billion to settle at N12.74 trillion.
The market breadth, which measures investors sentiments, closed bearish on Tuesday with the stock market recording 22 price losers and 19 price gainers.
Nigerian Breweries was the biggest price loser today, depreciating by N4.50k to settle at N134 per share.
Forte Oil followed with N3.89k of its share value lost to close at N40 per share, while Flour Mills of Nigeria fell by N1.74k to finish at N33.15k per share.
Zenith Bank declined by 74k to end at N24.24k per share, and GTBank went down by 59k to wrap the day at N42.1k per share.
On the flip side, Nestle topped the gainers’ chart, appreciating by N5.26k to finish at N1261.16k per share.
Okomu Oil rose by N2.19k to close at N68.20k per share, while International Breweries increased by 85k to end at N51.70k per share.
Unilever gained 80k to close at N37.80k per share, and Guinness Nigeria added 75k to its share value to finish at N101 per share.
The volume of shares traded on the floor of the NSE today increased as well as the value of equities transacted.
At the close of business on Tuesday, investors sold a total of 257.9 million shares worth N3.3 billion transacted in 3,423 deals, in contrast to 208.7 million equities valued at N2.5 billion exchanged on Monday in 2,993 deals.
It was Tantalizers that attracted the attention of investors the most, trading 43.8 million shares worth N22 million.
It was followed by Fidelity Bank, which exchanged 35.4 million units valued at N56.6 million, and FCMB, which sold 29.7 million shares for N33.6 million.
Zenith Bank traded 27.4 million shares worth N680.7 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 15 million shares at N105 million.
Adedapo Adesanya