By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market was pulled down by 0.31 per cent on Tuesday following losses reported by United Capital, Nestle Nigeria, and 35 other equities.
This was buoyed by profit-taking in these shares as a result of renewed interest in the fixed-income market, where rates are quite atractive to investors looking for investment assets that could offer higher yields.
The energy and industrial goods sectors performed well during the session, closing higher by 0.35 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.
However, the consumer goods index depreciated by 2.08 per cent, the banking counter went down by 1.73 per cent, and the insurance space closed lower by 0.82 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited shrank by 301.50 points to 97,830.65 points from 98,132.15 points, and the market capitalisation declined by N171 billion to N55.546 trillion from the N55.717 trillion it finished a day earlier.
Business Post reports that 19 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart yesterday and 37 stocks finished on the losers’ table, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
United Capital lost 9.92 per cent to trade at N34.05, Nestle Nigeria depreciated by 9.78 per cent to N830.00, Thomas Wyatt shed 9.72 per cent to sell at N1.95, Academy Press went down by 9.60 per cent to N1.79, and Africa Prudential retreated by 9.57 per cent to N9.45.
On the flip side, ABC Transport gained 10.00 per cent to settle at 77 Kobo, Oando improved its value by 9.84 per cent to N24.55, Ikeja Hotel expanded by 9.70 per cent to N7.35, RT Briscoe jumped by 9.59 per cent to 80 Kobo, and Presco appreciated by 7.83 per cent to N413.00.
The NGX recorded a mixed activity chart yesterday as the value of transactions went down by 8.05 per cent, and the volume of trades grew by 5.36 percent, with the number of deals increasing by 3.48 per cent.
A total of 399.4 million equities valued at N8.0 billion exchanged hands in 10,447 deals versus the 379.1 million equities sold for N8.7 billion in 10,096 deals on Monday.
Zenith Bank topped the activity chart after transacting 44.2 million stocks for N1.5 billion, Prestige Assurance traded 35.6 million shares worth N18.5 million, UBA exchanged 27.3 million equities for N554.4 million, Veritas Kapital sold 25.6 million shares valued at N23.2 million, and United Capital traded 22.9 million stocks worth N802.6 million.