Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed bearish on Tuesday following a 0.22 per cent loss witnessed as a result of profit-taking by investors.
The decline was largely driven by selloffs in banking equities, especially GTCO, UBA, Stanbic IBTC and others, weighing on the market’s performance.
Business Post reports that the banking counter shed 1.11 per cent, the energy space lost 0.08 per cent and the industrial goods sector declined by 0.05 per cent, while the insurance and consumer goods sectors appreciated by 0.35 per cent and 0.08 per cent respectively.
But at the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 93.60 points to end at 42,317.52 points compared with the previous day’s 42,411.12 points, while the market capitalisation depleted by N49 billion to finish at N22.081 trillion versus N22.130 trillion on Monday.
From the analysis of the transactions’ details, a total of 13 stocks closed on the gainers’ table while 18 stocks ended on the losers’ chart, indicating a negative market breadth and a weak investor sentiment.
UPDC REIT topped the losers’ log with a price depreciation of 6.67 per cent to close at N4.20, Japaul lost 5.13 per cent to trade at 37 kobo, Caverton went down by 4.62 per cent to N1.65, GTCO fell by 3.85 per cent to N25.00, while Ecobank declined by 2.69 per cent to N9.05.
On the flip side, Custodian Investment led the gainers’ gang after its value rose by 9.86 per cent to N7.80, Royal Exchange grew by 8.62 per cent to 63 kobo, Meyer appreciated by 8.33 per cent to 39 kobo, Unity Bank gained 6.82 per cent to sell for 47 kobo, while UAC Nigeria appreciated by 6.52 per cent to N9.80.
Yesterday, the activity chart was mixed as the trading value went down by 30.09 per cent to N2.3 billion from N3.3 billion, the number of deals declined by 1521 per cent to 3,753 deals from 4,426 deals, while the trading volume increased by 17.62 per cent to 270.1 million stocks from 229.6 million stocks.
Access Bank closed the session as the most traded stock with 55.0 million units valued at N497.7 million, followed by Universal Insurance with 53.2 million units worth N10.6 million.
Unity Bank traded 25.2 million units valued at N11.9 million, FB Holdings transacted 21.1 million units worth N252.5 million, while International Breweries exchanged 20.2 million units valued at N98.7 million.
