By Dipo Olowookere
The bears regained control of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday following renewed profit-taking triggered by selling pressure, especially in banking, consumer goods, and industrial goods services.
The trio made a mess of the 1.13 per cent gained by the insurance sector and the 0.09 per cent chalked up by the energy counter, as the banking index shrank by 1.85 per cent, the consumer goods space declined by 0.22 per cent, and the industrial goods sector lost 0.10 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) finished lower by 334.62 points to 101,707.70 points from 102,042.32 points, and the market capitalisation retreated by N183 billion to N55.653 trillion from N55.836 trillion.
Business Post reports that notable stocks like GTCO, Oando, Lafarge Africa, Zenith Bank, and others ended in the red zone yesterday, but it was PZ Cussons that topped the losers’ chart because it went down by 9.87 per cent to trade at N25.10.
Further, Morison Industries slumped by 9.84 per cent to N2.75, CWG crashed by 9.70 per cent to N6.05, eTranzact also depreciated by 9.70 per cent to N6.05, and Sovereign Trust Insurance moderated by 9.62 per cent to 47 Kobo.
On the flip side, Honeywell Flour topped the gainers’ log after it appreciated by 9.92 per cent to N4.32, Juli increased by 9.90 per cent to N1.11, Cornerstone Insurance advanced by 9.88 per cent to N2.67, ABC Transport surged by 9.76 per cent to 90 Kobo, and Veritas Kapital gained 9.59 per cent to sell for 80 Kobo.
When trading activities closed for the session, there were 29 depreciating equities and 24 appreciating equities, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
The activity chart was mixed on Tuesday as the trading volume improved by 8.58 per cent, while the trading value and the number of deals decreased by 15.69 per cent and 1.16 per cent, respectively.
A total of 263.2 million stocks valued at N4.3 billion were bought and sold yesterday in 8,614 deals, compared with the 242.4 million stocks worth N5.1 billion traded in 8,715 deals a day earlier.
Veritas Kapital was the most active during the day as it sold 49.1 million shares for N39.0 million, UBA traded 24.3 million equities worth N587.5 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 20.1 million stocks valued at N217.3 million, Transcorp transacted 17.9 million equities worth N235.3 million, and Zenith Bank traded 16.0 million shares valued at N578.2 million.
Modupe Gbadeyanka