By Dipo Olowookere
Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 1.66 percent lower on Monday after investors embarked on profit taking. The loss took out the gains posted by the local bourse last Friday.
The All-Share Index (ASI), which closed at 31,041.42 points last Friday, decreased yesterday by 509.73 points to finish at 30,531.69 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation depreciated by N150 billon yesterday to settle at N11.522 trillion against N11.672 trillion it ended the previous session.
During trading yesterday, the volume of shares traded by investors increased by 546.06 percent from 266.9 million to 1.7 billion, while the total value rose by 16.65 percent from N3.2 billion to N3.7 billion.
Wema Bank led the activity chart with a total of 1.5 billion units of its shares transacted for N1.5 billion.
UBA traded 63 million shares valued at N485 million, while Chams exchanged 47.7 million equities worth N9.7 million.
Fidelity Bank sold 17.5 million shares for N33.3 million, while Ecobank traded 17.5 million share worth N226.8 million.
Losses were recorded by 18 stocks on Monday with Nestle Nigeria leading the pack after N130 price decline to settle at N1450 per unit.
Beta Glass lost N7.15k to close at N64.80k per share, while Nigerian Breweries depreciated by N3.75k to end at N63 per share.
CCNN went down by N1.95k to close at N17.95k per share, while Dangote Flour reduced by N1 to finish at N9.20k per share.
At the other end, Berger Paints led the 12 price risers yesterday after 80 kobo was added to its share value to close at N9.05k per unit.
It was followed by Caverton, which rose by 22 kobo to finish at N2.71k per share, and Ikeja Hotels, which appreciated by 18 kobo to end at N2.06k per share.
Zenith Bank improved by 10 kobo to end at N21.90k per share, while Unity Bank appreciated by 7 kobo to settle at 87 kobo per unit.
Adedapo Adesanya