Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited remained in the red zone by 2.03 per cent on Thursday after investors maintained their profit-taking posture.
The desire to cash out some gains from equities left the local bourse battered at the close of trading activities yesterday, with the financial sector recording the heaviest loss.
The banking space shed 6.63 per cent, the insurance industry went down by 4.13 per cent, the energy counter depreciated by 0.74 per cent, and the consumer goods index slumped by 0.09 per cent.
Though the industrial goods sector appreciated by 0.69 per cent, it could not save the All-Share Index (ASI) from sinking, as it dropped 1,297.99 points to close at 62,748.94 points versus Wednesday’s 64,046.93 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation of the domestic stock exchange depleted by N707 billion to settle at N34.167 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N34.874 trillion.
The activity chart was red during the session due to the decline in the trading volume, value and the number of deals by 31.36 per cent, 17.32 per cent, and 25.81 per cent, respectively.
A total of 789.5 million shares worth N10.5 billion exchanged hands in 10,296 deals yesterday compared with the 1.2 billion shares worth N12.7 billion traded in 13,878 deals in the midweek session.
UBA topped the activity chart after transacting 99.0 million stocks valued at N1.3 billion, FBN Holdings transacted exchanged 72.7 million equities worth N1.3 billion, Transcorp traded 68.8 million shares for N280.8 million, FCMB sold 67.9 million shares for N415.9 million, and GTCO traded 51.2 million stocks valued at N1.8 billion.
Investor sentiment was weak on Thursday, as the market breadth index was negative after 57 equities finished on the losers’ chart, and 19 equities ended on the gainers’ table.
Omatek, Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank, Stanbic IBTC, and Transcorp Hotels lost 10.00 per cent each to trade at 54 Kobo, N4.50, N7.11, N61.20, and N35.55 apiece.
On the flip side, John Holt appreciated by 10.00 per cent to quote at N1.65, Dangote Sugar rose by 9.94 per cent to N29.85, NASCON improved by 9.91 per cent to N25.50, SAHCO increased by 9.80 per cent to N13.45, and Golden Guinea Breweries moved up by 9.74 per cent to N2.93.
