Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The stock market in Nigeria has continued to witness the dominance of the bears and Thursday was not different as it sank deeper into the danger zone by 0.30 per cent on the back of sustained profit-taking.
On Wednesday, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited dropped to the 38,000-point region and yesterday, it further reduced by 116.96 points to 38,328.13 points from 38,445.09 points.
During the session, the market capitalisation, which measures the total value of the stocks on the exchange, depleted to the N19 trillion territory after it lost N61 billion to settle at N19.978 trillion in contrast to N20.039 trillion it finished at the preceding day.
The major culprits of the loss yesterday were Dangote Cement, UBA, United Capital, Unilever Nigeria, Access Bank and 14 others.
At the close of transactions, the heaviest loser was Sunu Assurances as its share price went down by 9.62 per cent to 47 kobo, followed by Royal Exchange, which lost 9.33 per cent to trade at 68 kobo.
Regency Alliance Insurance depreciated by 8.11 per cent to close at 34 kobo, Linkage Assurance dropped 7.69 per cent to 60 kobo, while Sterling Bank also declined by 7.69 per cent to sell at N1.56.
A total of 18 equities closed in the positive zone on Thursday led by Trans-Nationwide Express, while rose by 9.88 per cent to quote at 89 kobo.
Prestige Assurance grew by 6.52 per cent to 49 kobo, Chams appreciated by 4.76 per cent to 22 kobo, Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 3.85 per cent to trade at 27 kobo, while AIICO Insurance rose by 3.20 per cent to N1.29.
When trading activities were wrapped up for the day, the industrial goods and banking sectors went down by 0.89 per cent and 0.11 per cent respectively, while the consumer goods, insurance and energy counters improved by 0.39 per cent, 0.35 per cent and 0.05 per cent respectively.
On the activity chart, investors traded 157.3 million shares worth N1.7 billion in 2,824 deals on Thursday versus the 153.6 million shares worth N2.5 billion transacted in 3,494 deals on Wednesday.
Zenith Bank finished as the most traded stock with the sale of 27.6 million units worth N634.2 million and was trailed by Access Bank, which sold 19.6 million equities worth N161.8 million.
FBN Holdings transacted 13.5 million shares for N96.9 million, GTBank traded 11.9 million stocks valued at N352.3 million, while Veritas Kapital exchanged 10.5 million stocks for N2.1 million.
