Profit-taking In Large-cap Stocks Triggers N153bn Loss

The equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited lost N153.15bn at the end of trading on Monday as investors took profits in large-cap stocks.

The NGX All-Share Index declined by 0.71 per cent to 41,144.67bps from 41,438.15 basis points on Friday while the market capitalisation fell to N21.47tn from N21.62tn.

Investor activity declined as the volume of shares traded fell by 53.53 per cent to 338.72 million shares worth N4.06bn in 5,866 deals from 728.96 million shares valued at N8.53bn in 4,852 deals on Friday.

Analysing by sectors, the NGX Banking and Industrial Goods indices rose by 0.4 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively while the NGX Consumer Goods, Insurance and Oil & Gas indices declined by 2.5 per cent, 1.7 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.

The market sentiment, as measured by market breadth, was negative as 21 firms saw losses compared to 19 gainers.

May and Baker Nigeria Plc recorded the highest loss on Monday as its share price slumped by 8.02 per cent to N4.36. Royal Exchange Plc followed, as it fell by 7.81 per cent to N0.59 per share.

Other major losers were NPF Microfinance Bank Plc (7.57 per cent), FBN Holdings (7.48 per cent) and Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc (6.67 per cent).

NGX Group Plc led the gainers’ chart as its share price rose by 9.86 per cent, closing at N19.50.

It was followed by Ikeja Hotel Plc, which rose by 9.52 per cent to close at N1.15 per share. Custodian Investment Plc, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, and Chams Plc also saw gains of 7.53 per cent, 6.48 per cent and 4.55 per cent respectively.

Analysts at Atlas Portfolios Limited said, “The Nigerian equity market halted the four consecutive uptrends as the market performance indicators shed 0.71 percent each.

“The decline was impacted by profit-taking in FBN Holdings, NESTLE Nigeria Plc, MTN Nigeria Plc, amongst others.”

Cordros Capital’s analysts said in a report, “Trading in the domestic bourse started the week with bearish sentiments as profit-taking activities in bellwether stocks – MTN Nigeria (2.9 per cent) and Nestle Nigeria (5.1 per cent) dragged the All-Share index lower.”