Stock market sheds N719bn as Investors take profits

By Abubakar Yunusa

Nigeria’s equities market shed N719bn in market value as investors sold shares to lock in profits following recent gains, with the benchmark All-Share Index declining by 0.44 per cent.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited’s All-Share Index fell by 1,107.28 points from 253,990.06 to 252,882.78, although it remained above the 250,000-point mark.

Consequently, the market’s capitalisation dropped from N164.913tn to N164.194tn.

The decline was attributed to profit-taking activities after the market’s strong performance in the previous trading session.

Trading activity also weakened considerably, with the volume of shares traded falling by 92.3 per cent to 404.11 million units from 5.23 billion units recorded in the preceding session.

Similarly, the total value of transactions plunged by 93.7 per cent to N27.91bn from N441.47bn.

However, the number of deals increased by 8.5 per cent to 39,012 transactions from 35,946, indicating that trading was less concentrated in large-volume transactions.

Market breadth closed negative, with 39 stocks recording losses against 25 gainers.

Sovereign Trust Insurance led the gainers, appreciating by 10 per cent to close at N1.98 per share.

Austin Laz & Company followed with a 9.21 per cent increase to N2.61 per share, while United Bank for Africa gained 6.83 per cent to close at N43.

Critical Minerals Financing Corporation rose by 5.71 per cent to N3.33, while University Press gained 4.60 per cent to close at N4.55 per share.

On the losers’ chart, First HoldCo led the decline, shedding 10 per cent to close at N139.50 per share.

Tripple Gee & Company fell by 5.51 per cent to N2.40, while Fortis Global Insurance, eTranzact International and Royal Exchange each lost 4.76 per cent to close at N1.60, N16 and N1 respectively.

Market analysts said the session was characterised by bearish sentiment and significantly lower trading turnover as investors took profits following recent gains.