Stock Market Investors Lose N27bn to Profit Taking

By Dipo Olowookere

The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated by N27 billion on Thursday following profit-taking activities by stock market investors.

Business Post reports that when trading activities were rounded up for the day, the total value of equities on the bourse closed at N20.043 trillion in contrast to Wednesday’s N20.070 trillion.

It was observed that selloffs in the big guys like GT HoldCo, Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC and 13 others weakened the exchange by 0.08 per cent yesterday.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 31.44 points to close at 38,469.87 points compared with 38,501.31 points it ended at the midweek session.

The banking sector performed badly yesterday and was the major reason for the loss reported by the market as its index declined by 0.98 per cent. The consumer goods index, on its part, fell by 0.14 per cent.

However, the oil/gas sector appreciated by 1.21 per cent, the insurance counter grew by 0.14 per cent, while the industrial goods space improved by 0.04 per cent.

Prestige Assurance was the worst-performing stock on Thursday as its price went down by 10.00 per cent to trade at 45 kobo.

Pharma Deko depreciated by 9.70 per cent to N1.21, University Press lost 7.88 per cent to sell for N1.52, Coronation Insurance declined by 5.08 per cent to 56 kobo, while Mutual Benefits Assurance fell by 4.65 per cent to 41 kobo.

On the flip side, NEM Insurance ended the trading session as the best-performing equity after its price went up by 10.00 per cent to settle at N2.20.

Courtville gained 9.52 per cent to trade at 23 kobo, NAHCO improved by 5.71 per cent to N2.59, Caverton appreciated by 4.42 per cent to N1.89, while Transcorp rose by 4.40 per cent to 95 kobo.

During the session, investors traded 238.2 million shares worth N2.6 billion in 3,927 deals as against the 296.1 million shares worth N2.6 billion traded in 4,507 deals on Wednesday.

At the close of business, Transcorp was the most active stock after it transacted 34.4 million shares valued at N32.1 million.

Courtville traded 26.4 million equities valued at N5.9 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 23.7 million stocks for N590.4 million, Fidelity Bank sold 20.5 million equities for N47.4 million, while Chams traded 15.1 million shares valued at N3.0 million.