By Dipo Olowookere
The winning streaks witnessed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited lately was halted on Thursday as profit-taking in some blue-chip equities pulled down the stock market by 0.13 per cent.
Heavyweights like MTN Nigeria, GTCO, Cadbury Nigeria and FBN Holdings came under selling pressure yesterday, bringing down the exchange at the close of transactions despite the strong investor sentiment.
Business Post reports that the market breadth closed positive on Thursday as the bourse recorded 15 appreciating stocks and 10 depreciating equities led by Capital Hotel, which dropped 9.80 per cent to sell at N2.76. Honeywell Flour declined by 9.09 per cent to N2.20, Coronation Insurance decreased by 8.11 per cent to 34 Kobo, ABC Transport crashed by 7.41 per cent to 25 Kobo, and Cadbury Nigeria depleted by 4.46 per cent to N10.70.
However, the shares of Chams grew by 9.09 per cent during the session to 24 Kobo, RT Briscoe expanded by 7.69 per cent to 28 Kobo, PZ Cussons inflated by 5.50 per cent to N11.50, Livestock Feeds improved by 4.50 per cent to N1.16, and Ecobank increased by 2.86 per cent to N10.80.
Analysis of the sectorial performance showed that the energy index remained unchanged, the industrial goods and the banking counters closed higher by 1.11 per cent and 0.46 per cent apiece, while the insurance and the consumer goods sectors declined by 0.48 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the NGX slacked by 61.35 points to 48,365.14 points from 48,426.49 points, while the market capitalisation went down by N34 billion to N26.343 trillion from N26.377 trillion.
Yesterday, investors transacted 148.2 million shares worth N3.0 billion in 3,391 deals compared with the 146.2 million shares worth N3.4 billion traded in the midweek session in 2,810 deals, indicating a decline in the trading value by 11.77 per cent, an increase in the trading volume by 1.37 per cent, and a surge in the number of trades by 20.61 per cent.
The most attractive stock for the session was Ecobank, as it sold 23.4 million units and was trailed by FBN Holdings, which traded 25.8 million units. Transcorp exchanged 12.9 million units, Access Holdings transacted 9.6 million units, and Sterling Bank traded 9.2 million units.
