By Dipo Olowookere
The local bourse located on Customs Street, Lagos was drowned by 0.20 per cent by profit-takers, who pounced on stocks of tier-one banks and others.
According to data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, the banking index lost 0.79 per cent, followed by the insurance sector with a 0.66 per cent loss, the consumer goods counter with a decline of 0.57 per cent, the energy space with a 0.23 per cent depreciation and the industrial goods sector with a marginal 0.01 per cent fall.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) shed 86.70 points to finish at 43,199.27 points in contrast to the previous day’s 43,285.97 points, while the market capitalisation depressed by N45 billion to end at N22.544 trillion versus Thursday’s N22.589 trillion.
Eterna was the worst-performing as its share price depleted by 9.03 per cent to N6.65, followed by NGX Group Plc with an 8.86 per cent loss to trade at N15.95. Lasaco Assurance depreciated by 7.08 per cent to N1.05, UPDC REIT loss 6.67 per cent to sell for N5.60, while Wema Bank declined by 4.71 per cent to 81 kobo.
On the reverse side, Unity Bank was the best-performing stock, rising by 10.00 per cent to trade at 55 kobo, while Regency Assurance grew by 5.41 per cent to 39 kobo.
Virafoam appreciated by 4.78 per cent to sell for N21.90, Chams rose by 4.76 per cent to settle at 22 kobo, while FTN Cocoa appreciated by 4.76 per cent to finish at 44 kobo.
Business Post reports that the activity chart was mixed yesterday with the trading value rising by 24.93 per cent to N3.3 billion from N2.6 billion, the number of deals growing by 14.43 per cent to 3,917 deals from 3,423 deals, while the trading volume declined by 5.24 per cent to 199.5 million units from 210.6 million units.
GTCO was the most traded stock on Friday as it sold 49.9 million units valued at N1.3 billion, followed by FBN Holdings with a turnover of 18.4 million units worth N208.7 million.
Access Bank transacted 17.5 million shares worth N156.0 million, Nigerian Breweries traded 7.6 million equities valued at N390.6 million, while Fidelity Bank exchanged 7.6 million stocks worth N19.6 million.
