By Dipo Olowookere
The stock market in Nigeria recorded its first loss this week and its first in four straight trading sessions on Thursday, no thanks to profit-takers.
Profit-taking activities witnessed yesterday brought down the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.32 per cent at the close of transactions.
Investors booked profit in banking and telecommunication stocks and at the close of business, UBA emerged the most traded equity with the sale of 16.4 million units worth N123.6 million.
GTCO exchanged 13.0 million shares worth N364.9 million, Zenith Bank sold 11.9 million equities valued at N291.6 million, Wema Bank transacted 9.6 million stocks for N8.5 million, while AIICO Insurance traded 9.4 million shares worth N8.9 million.
At the end of the session, a total of 139.8 million stocks worth N1.4 billion were traded in 3,655 deals in contrast to the 206.3 million stocks worth N1.1 billion transacted in 3,435 deals on Wednesday, indicating a 32.24 per cent decline in the trading volume, a 31.70 per cent rise in the trading value and a 6.40 per cent increase in the number of deals.
During the trading day, Ardova was the worst-performing stock, losing 6.25 per cent to sell at N15.00 and was trailed by Veritas Kapital, which went down by 4.00 per cent to 24 kobo.
AIICO Insurance depreciated by 2.06 per cent to 95 kobo, Coronation Insurance declined by 1.92 per cent to 51 kobo, while Japaul went down by 1.92 per cent to 51 kobo.
At the other end, Conoil finished at the best-performing stock with a price appreciation of 10.00 per cent to settle at N20.35 and was trailed by Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, which gained 8.93 per cent to trade at 61 kobo.
Sovereign Trust Insurance improved by 7.69 per cent to 28 kobo, Regency Assurance went up by 7.14 per cent to 45 kobo, while Mutual Benefits Assurance rose by 5.56 per cent to 38 kobo.
Yesterday, the banking and energy sectors declined by 0.30 per cent and 0.04 per cent respectively, while the consumer goods, insurance and industrial goods counters appreciated by 0.26 per cent, 0.25 per cent and 0.04 per cent apiece.
However, due to the profit-taking, the All-Share Index (ASI) reduced by 126.32 points to 38,801.51 points from 38,927.83 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N66 billion to N20.216 trillion from N20.282 trillion.
