By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Investors in local equities lost the sum of N97 billion last Friday as they maintained selloffs at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). This left the bourse down by 0.65 percent and reduced the year-to-date (YtD) gain to 7.46 percent.
Also, the market capitalisation went down by N97 billion to close at N14.857 trillion. In the same vein, the All-Share Index (ASI) reduced by 187.40 points to 28,843.53 points from 29,030.93 points.
The lukewarm performance of the market was caused by the sustained profit taking in most especially banking stocks, which led to the price depreciation of 24 equities. Only 11 stocks appreciated in price during the last trading day of the week just as only the energy sector closed in green by 0.36 percent.
The banking index lost 1.17 percent, insurance depreciated by 0.37 percent, consumer goods fell by 0.19 percent, while industrial goods declined by 0.06 percent.
Stanbic IBTC led the losers’ chart at the session. The banking stock depreciated by N3.25 to close at N38.25 per share.
CAP declined by N2.50 to close at N25 per share, Presco lost N2.40 to close at N49.85 per share, GTBank declined by N1 to close at N30 per share, while PZ Cussons depreciated by 55 kobo to close at N5.10 per share.
On the gainers’ table, BUA Cement led the pack. The company’s stocks appreciated by 25 kobo to close at N37 per share, same as Access Bank, which appreciated by 25 kobo to end at N9.90 per share.
Oando gained 10 kobo to close at N3.70 per share, while Jaiz Bank and Champion Breweries rose by 6 kobo each to close at 72 per share and 97 kobo per share respectively.
At the session, which was also the last trading day for January 2020, the volume of trades increased by 30.62 percent to 348.6 million from 266.9 million, while the value dropped by 53.34 percent to N4.2 billion from N9.0 billion.
Zenith Bank closed as the most traded stock by volume, accounting for 47.4 million units worth N994.6 million, while Unilever Nigeria traded 44.1 million units valued at N661.6 million.
UBA transacted 30.2 million units worth N241.8 million, GTBank traded 26.3 million units valued at N790.2 million, while Access Bank traded 23.9 million units for N226.2 million.
Adedapo Adesanya