Stock Market Suffers N393bn Loss On Profit-taking

The equities market closed on a negative note on Tuesday, declining by 1.83 per cent as profit-taking hit the market following investors’ moves to increase capital gains.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index dropped by 751.25 basis points or 1.83 per cent from 41,147.39bps the previous day to 40,396.14bps while the market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N393bn to close at N21.12tn from N21.52tn.

On the activity chart, the premium sub-sector dominated in volume terms with 106.03 million shares exchanged in 2,123 deals. The subsector was enhanced by the activities in the shares of Access Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc.

The insurance subsector was boosted by the activities on the shares of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc and Lasaco Assurance Plc, with 68.22 million units traded in 403 deals.

In all, investors exchanged a total of 465.68 million shares in 7,576 deals.

Further analysis of the day’s trading showed that BOC Gases Plc led the gainers chart with 9.72 per cent to close at N10.50 per share.

NEM Insurance Plc followed with 9.50 per cent to close at N1.96 per share while Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc appreciated by 8.82 per cent to close at 74 kobo per share.

On the other hand, Oando Plc led the losers’ chart with a drop of 10 per cent to close at N3,33 per share.

FTN Cocoa Plc followed with a loss of 9.72 per cent to close at 65 kobo per share while May and Baker Nigeria Plc dropped by 8.55 per cent to close at N3.21 per share.