By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited succumbed to the bears on Monday after it depreciated by 0.33 per cent as a result of the dominant activities of profit-takers.
The loss was buoyed by the selling pressure on the industrial goods space, with BUA Cement the major culprit. Investors also booked profit in Japaul, which gained over 50 per cent last week.
At the close of business, the industrial goods sector lost 3.27 per cent, the insurance counter depreciated by 0.09 per cent, and the consumer goods index went down by 0.02 per cent, while the banking space rose by 0.38 per cent, with the energy sector flat.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) depleted by 236.57 points to 70,612.81 points from 70,849.38 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N130 billion to N38.795 trillion from N38.925 trillion.
Despite the weak outcome on the first trading day of the week, the market breadth index was positive as there were 26 appreciating equities and 18 depreciating equities, implying a strong investor sentiment.
Japaul lost 9.09 per cent to sell for N1.80, BUA Cement depreciated by 7.76 per cent to N98.70, Veritas Kapital shrank by 7.41 per cent to 25 Kobo, Universal Insurance dropped 4.00 per cent to trade at 24 Kobo, and Chams fell by 3.85 per cent to close at N2.00.
Conversely, Aluminium Extrusion and RT Briscoe topped the gainers’ table after they chalked up 10.00 per cent each to sell at N7.15 and 66 Kobo apiece, as MeCure continued its upward movement with a 9.95 per cent growth to finish at N4.31, McNichols grew by 9.84 per cent to 67 Kobo, and Deap Capital expanded by 9.68 per cent to 34 Kobo.
During the session, investors traded 474.4 million stocks valued at N7.8 billion in 7,630 deals compared with the 556.7 million stocks worth N5.6 billion in 6,308 deals, indicating a decline in the trading volume by 14.78 per cent, a surge in the trading value by 39.29 per cent, and a jump in the number of deals by 20.96 per cent.
Fidelity Bank recorded the highest sale of shares yesterday, with 94.1 million units valued at N858.6 million, Japaul transacted 66.0 million units worth N121.0 million, UBA exchanged 54.9 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Transcorp traded 26.0 million units worth N161.1 million, and Jaiz Bank sold 21.7 million units for N34.9 million.
