Stock Investors Lose N599bn as Profit-Taking Intensifies

By Dipo Olowookere

For the 14th trading session, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed in the red zone after it depreciated by 1.04 per cent on persistent profit-taking.

Yesterday, the selling pressure by stock investors intensified, with the financial services sector suffering the most, as the banking space lost 5.75 per cent, and the insurance index down by 3.27 per cent.

Further, the consumer goods counter went down by 1.02, the industrial goods sector depreciated by 0.06 per cent, and the energy sector closed flat.

When trading activities ended for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 1,059.91 points to 100,717.21 points from 101,777.12 points, and the market capitalisation depleted by N599 billion to N56.962 trillion from N57.561 trillion.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was negative after 50 stocks declined and seven stocks gained, representing a weak investor sentiment.

The quintet of Ellah Lakes, Cornerstone Insurance, Fidelity Bank, Vitafoam Nigeria, and Japaul lost 10.00 per cent each during the session to settle at N3.15, N1.71, N8.10, N18.90, and N1.80 apiece.

Conversely, Morison Industries gained 9.96 per cent to close at N3.09, Thomas Wyatt appreciated by 8.63 per cent to N2.14, Universal Insurance rose by 5.56 per cent to 38 Kobo, Omatek jumped by 3.80 per cent to 82 Kobo, and Secure Electronic Technology soared by 3.45 per cent to 60 Kobo.

The busiest equity for the session was Access Holdings, which sold 62.9 million units valued at N1.1 billion, and GTCO traded 47.4 million units for N1.7 billion. UBA transacted 45.6 million units worth N1.1 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 41.4 million units valued at N1.5 billion, and Fidelity Bank traded 23.1 million units worth N189.4 million.

At the close of transactions, traders bought and sold 403.9 million equities valued at N8.4 billion in 10,170 deals versus the 326.6 million equities worth N7.2 billion traded in 10,777 deals on Monday, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 5.63 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 23.6 per cent, and 16.67 per cent, respectively.