Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The stock market depreciated by 0.14 per cent on Wednesday as investors begin another round of profit-taking with the key contenders in the 2023 presidential election between the two major political parties now known.
Yesterday, a former Governor of Lagos State, Mr Bola Tinubu, emerged as the flag-bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s poll, defeating the Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, who came third and former Governor of Rivers State, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, who was the first runner-up.
With a former Vice President, Mr Atiku Abubakar, as the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, as the ticket holder of the Labour Party, investors can now guess who will likely take over from President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023.
Ahead of this, they are treading cautiously and this was reflected in the outcome of the market at the midweek session. The market capitalisation depreciated by N42 billion to settle at N28.677 trillion compared with Tuesday’s N28.719 trillion, while the All Share Index (ASI) fell by 76.90 points to close at 53,193.98 points in contrast to the previous day’s 53,270.88 points.
Trading data showed that investor sentiment was weak yesterday as the exchange ended the session with 20 depreciating stocks and 16 appreciating stocks led by Caverton, which gained 7.34 per cent to close at N1.17.
FTN Cocoa rose by 5.88 per cent to 36 kobo, Transcorp improved by 5.69 per cent to N1.30, Cutix expanded by 4.98 per cent to N2.74, while Linkage Assurance advanced by 3.70 per cent to 56 kobo.
Champion Breweries was the heaviest price loser on Wednesday as it fell by 9.79 per cent to N3.50, Cornerstone Insurance depreciated by 9.68 per cent to 56 kobo, eTranzact went down by 9.67 per cent to N2.71, NEM Insurance depleted by 8.33 per cent to N3.85, while Japaul slipped by 6.25 per cent to 30 kobo.
Business Post reports that the insurance and banking counters went down by 1.76 per cent and 0.86 per cent apiece, while the consumer goods and industrial goods sectors gained 0.13 per cent and 0.03 per cent respectively, with the energy index closing flat.
A total of 249.0 million equities worth N1.9 billion exchanged hands in 4,265 deals on Wednesday compared with the 234.6 million equities worth N2.8 billion traded in 4,232 deals on Tuesday, implying a decline in the value of trades by 32.19 per cent and an increase in the volume of trades and number of trades by 6.11 per cent and 0.78 per cent respectively.
Transcorp dominated the activity chart yesterday, closing as the most active after trading 103.6 million stocks valued at N131.3 million, Fidelity Bank sold 24.8 million shares valued at N80.2 million, FBN Holdings traded 12.5 million equities worth N130.6 million, Japaul exchanged 10.4 million equities valued at N3.1 million, while Chams transacted 7.8 million stocks for N1.9 million.
