Sustained profit-taking drags market capitalisation by N12 billion

Sustained profit-taking by investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), halted the five consecutive sessions of gains recorded last week, forcing the equities market to close on a downward note yesterday, as market capitalisation dipped by N12 billion.

At the close of transactions yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 25.53 absolute points, representing 0.06 per cent loss, to close at 41,789.59 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation value lost N12 billion to close at N21.809 trillion.

The negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks, which are, Nestle Nigeria, FBNH, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria (Glaxosmith), Transcorp Hotels and Custodian Investment.

Analysts at Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “We expect the market to trade in a similar pattern tomorrow, as investors continue to buy up attractive counters while taking profit on previous gainers. As previously mentioned, we also expect Q3 numbers to continue to dictate market direction.”

However, market breadth closed positive, as 24 stocks appreciated in price while 15 constituted the losers’ chart. GlaxoSmithKline emerged the day’s highest price loser, shedding 10 per cent to close at N6.30 kobo. Transcorp Hotels followed with a decline of 9.88 per cent to close at N5.38 kobo while FBN Holdings (FBNH) lost 6.05 per cent to close at N11.65 kobo.

Veritas Kapital Assurance depreciated by 4.35 per cent to close at 22 kobo, while Africa Prudential shed 3.94 per cent to close at N6.10 kobo.

On the other hand, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank recorded the highest price gain of 9.59 per cent to close at 80 kobo. AIICO Insurance followed with a gain of 9.57 per cent to close at N1.03 and University Press went up 9.09 per cent to close at N1.80 kobo.

Red Star Express rose by 6.25 per cent to close at N3.40 kobo while Total Nigeria appreciated by 5.97 per cent to close at N220. The total volume of trades declined by 19.43 per cent to 284.601 million units, valued at N3.203 billion, and exchanged in 5,036 deals. Transactions in the shares of FBNH topped the activity chart with 75.459 million shares valued at N898.013 million.

AIICO Insurance followed with 18.418 million shares worth N17.810 million, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) traded 17.320 million shares valued at N137.322 million.

Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 15.207 million shares valued at N15.492 million, while Fidelity Bank transacted 14.029 million shares worth N38.525 million.