Sell-off in the shares of many blue-chip companies, especially NGX Group and African Prudential dragged transactions on the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) downward yesterday, as market capitalisation dipped further by N14 billion.
At the close of trading yesterday, the market capitalisation of listed equities shed 0.052 per cent to N26.614 trillion from N26.628 billion reported the previous day.
The All-Share Index also depreciated by 25.95 basis points to 49344.67 points from 49370.62 recorded on Friday. Investors traded 122.935 million shares valued at N1.301 billion in 3915 deals against 132.232 million shares valued at N1.625 billion exchanged hands in 3045 deals.
On the price movement chart, FTNCocoa recorded the highest loss during the day, shedding 9.09 per cent to close at 30 kobo. Lasaco Insurance trailed with a loss of 8.65 per cent to close at 95 kobo. Wapic Insurance was down by 7.32 per cent to close at 38 kobo.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated dipped by 5.66 per cent to close at N10. NGX Group fell by 4.62 per cent to N19.60. Jaiz Bank lost 4.49 per cent to close at 85 kobo while African Prudential shed 3.45 per cent to close at N5.60 kobo. TransNational Corporation depreciated by 1.87 per cent to close at N1.05 kobo. AIICO declined by 1.75 per cent to close at 56 kobo. Academy Press also fell by 1.44 per cent to close at N2.05 kobo.
However, Courteville Business Solutions led the gainers’ chart, increasing by 9.09 per cent to close at 48 kobo. Honeywell Flour mills followed with a gain of 8.68 per cent to close at N2.63 kobo. Mutual Benefits Assurance added 8.00 per cent to close at N27. NEM Insurance increased by 4.71 per cent to close at N4. Champion Breweries rose by 2.90 per cent to close at N3.90 kobo.
United Bank for Africa added 1.69 per cent to close at N12 while Fidelity Bank appreciated by 1.69 per cent to close at N3.07 kobo. Zenith Bank gained 33 per cent to close at N22.00. Lafarge WAPCO also garnered 21 per cent to close at N24.
Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “As expected, the market kicked off the week bearish amid drawback in market breadth. We expect a continued mixed session tomorrow, with slight bargain hunting activities across sectors.”
Mutual Benefits Assurance was the most active stock during the day, exchanging 18.428 million shares valued at N4.975 million.
Transnational Corporation of Nigeria followed with an account of 9.230 million shares valued at N9.717, GTCO Plc traded 8.576 million shares cost N17.374 million, Sterling Bank traded 7.938 million shares cost N11.909 million while AccessCorp exchanged 7.866 million shares cost N65.415 million.
