Stock Investors Suffer Valentine’s Day Heartbreak After N697bn Loss

Dipo Olowookere

It was a sad Valentine’s Day for local stock investors as the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated on Friday by 1.02 per cent as a result of profit-taking.

This dragged the market capitalisation below N68 trillion because its value went down by N697 billion to N67.419 trillion from the N68.116 it closed on Thursday.

In the same vein, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 1,118.09 points to 108,053.95 points from the 109,172.04 points recorded a day earlier.

The market bled yesterday as a result of the selling pressure across the key segments of the bourse except the industrial goods space, which closed higher by 0.78 per cent.

The consumer goods counter weakened by 5.01 per cent, the energy sector lost 2.34 per cent, the banking industry slumped by 0.75 per cent, and the insurance index depreciated by 0.15 per cent.

However, investor sentiment remained strong during the session. This was because the exchange ended with 38 price gainers and 28 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.

BUA Foods slipped by 10.00 per cent to N373.50, DAAR Communications went down by 9.09 per cent to 70 Kobo, Aradel Holdings shed 6.90 per cent to trade at N530.00, Livestock Feeds tumbled by 6.09 per cent to N6.01, and Beta Glass plunged by 5.74 per cent to N95.20.

Conversely, Royal Exchange gained 10.00 per cent to sell for 99 Kobo, UPDC improved by 9.88 per cent to N3.78, The Initiates advanced by 9.76 per cent to N4.05, Red Star Express surged by 9.09 per cent to N6.00, and CWG increased by 7.41 per cent to N8.70.

A total of 478.8 million equities worth N13.9 billion exchanged hands in 15,613 deals on Friday versus the 427.1 million equities valued at N9.2 billion traded in 16,342 deals on Thursday, representing a fall in the number of deals by 4.46 per cent, and a growth in the trading volume and value by 12.11 per cent and 51.09 per cent apiece.

Leading the activity chart was Sterling Holdings with 88.6 million stocks valued at N531.8 million, Access Holdings transacted 29.7 million equities worth N835.1 million, Veritas Kapital traded 21.6 million shares for N26.0 million, AIICO Insurance exchanged 20.1 million stocks worth N34.6 million, and Honeywell Flour traded 18.4 million equities valued at N267.7 million.