By Dipo Olowookere
Another loss was recorded at the Nigerian stock market on Thursday as a result of sustained profit taking by investors just like in the previous session.
At the close of transactions yesterday, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was pointing southwards by 0.61 percent with the year-to-date return closing at -14.33 percent.
Specifically, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 199.92 points yesterday to 32,763.35 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N73 billion to close at N11.961 trillion.
Business Post reports that the market breadth ended negative with 21 price fallers and 13 price risers with Nestle Nigeria recording the highest price fall with N62.50k of its share price lost to close at N1432.50k per share.
It was followed by GTBank, which depreciated by 80 kobo to settle at N36.70k per share, and PX Cussons, which fell by 65 kobo to end at N12.85k per share.
CCNN reduced by 50 kobo to finish at N23 per share, while Dangote Sugar declined by 40 kobo to quote at N14.20k per share.
At the other end of the table, Total Nigeria claimed the top spot on the gainers’ log, closing at N183 per share after going up by N1.90k.
Nigerian Breweries rose by N1.40k to finish at N91.50k per share, while Custodian Investment increased its share value by 24 kobo to end at N5.28k per share.
Zenith Bank appreciated by 10 kobo to settle at N21.50k per share, while Linkage Assurance got a boost of 6 kobo to finish at 70 kobo per share.
A look at the market activity on Thursday showed that the volume of shares transacted by investors decreased by 10.40 percent, while the value significantly went up by 32.99 percent.
A total of 154.3 million equities worth N2.7 billion were traded yesterday in 2,715 deals compared with the 172.2 million units valued at N2.1 billion exchanged the previous day in 2,866 deals.
Business Post reports that these trades were dominated by the banking stocks, which accounted for 102.9 million units worth N1.2 billion executed in 1,063 deals.
A further breakdown showed that there was a fresh appetite for Fidelity Bank stocks after the lender released its much-awaited half-year results on Wednesday, trading 23.3 million units of its shares on Thursday worth N39.3 million.
It was followed by GTBank, which traded 16.8 million equities worth N621.4 million, and UBA, which transacted 16.2 million shares valued at N134.9 million.
Access Bank sold 15.5 million shares for N125.7 million, while Zenith Bank exchanged 11.4 million equities for N246.2 million.
