NSE’s index slides further by 1.4% amid profit taking

Profit taking has continued to take toll on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), even as the All-share index slides further by 1.4 per cent.

Yesterday, the market capitalisation of the NSE lost N114 billion or 1.4 per cent to close at N8.285 trillion compared with N8.399 trillion achieved on Monday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index, which opened at 24,423.37, shed 332.29 points or 1.4 per cent to close at 24,090.98 following price loses by major blue chip companies.

Analysts attributed the drop in indices to supply pressure and profit taking embarked by investors.

Specifically, the President, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Emeka Madubuike explained that investors were reacting to developments at the foreign exchange market and slide in crude oil price at the global market.

He added that they are leveraging the little capital appreciation recorded during transactions last week to recoup their investment.

Further analysis of yesterday’s transactions showed that Dangote Cement recorded the highest price loss, dropping by N6.83 to close at N133 per share. Mobil trailed with a loss of N1 to close at N149, while ETI lost 60k to close at N15 per share.

UACN shed 47kobo to close at N20, while Cadbury depreciated by 36kobo to close at N17.50 per share.

On the other, Lafarge Africa led the gainers’ table, gaining N4.02 to close at N84.52 per share. Seven UP came second with a gain of N3 to close at N171.50, while Nigerian Breweries gained N1.05 to close at N100.05 per share.

NASCON rose by 14kobo to close at N7, while Custodian and Allied Insurance grew by 10kobo to close at N4.10 per share.

On the activity chart, FBN Holdings was the most active in volume terms, exchanging 66.62 million shares worth N246.95 million traded in 358 deals. Beco Petroleum followed with a total of 25 million shares valued N12.50 million exchanged in one deal, while GT Bank traded 15.93 million shares worth N263.54 million in 150 deals.

Diamond Bank exchanged 8.61 million shares valued N11.95 million transacted in 73 deals and FCMB Group sold 8.32 million shares worth N6.84 million achieved in 84 deals.

In all, investors bought and sold 201.73 million shares valued N1.26 billion exchanged in 2,559 deals, against 3.45 billion shares worth N5.99 billion traded in 2,432 deals on Monday.