By Dipo Olowookere
It was a bad day for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday as it depreciated by 0.25 per cent at the close of business due to profit-taking.
The decline suffered by the bourse happened despite investor sentiment getting stronger after recording 32 price gainers and 15 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index.
At the trading session, Abbey Mortgage Bank lost 9.77 per cent to trade at N2.40, Conoil shed 9.45 per cent to close at N1.15, Conoil declined by 6.35 per cent to N244.00, BUA Cement tumbled by 5.93 per cent to N92.00, and Custodian Investment weakened by 4.76 per cent to N12.00.
On the flip side, The Initiates and Flour Mills appreciated by 10.00 per cent each to sell for N2.53 and N71.50 apiece, John Holt gained 9.86 per cent to trade at N7.02, International Energy Insurance rose by 9.85 per cent to N1.45, and Sunu Assurances leapt by 9.73 per cent to N2.48.
Business Post reports that the insurance counter went up by 0.95 per cent yesterday, the consumer goods index improved by 0.56 per cent, and the banking sector jumped by 0.53 per cent.
However, the gains recorded by the trio could not stop the damage done by the bears as a result of the decline of 1.85 per cent and 1.31 per cent posted by the industrial goods and energy indices, respectively.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) crumbled by 244.73 points to 97,233.07 points from 97,477.80 points and the market capitalisation fell by N148 billion to N58.919 trillion from the N59.067 trillion recorded a day earlier.
On Thursday, investors bought and sold 291.5 million shares valued at N7.8 billion in 7,931 deals compared with the 247.0 million shares worth N7.5 billion traded in 8,305 deals on Wednesday, implying a moderation in the number of deals by 4.50 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 18.02 per cent and 4.00 per cent, respectively.
Access Holdings was the most traded equity for the day with 60.4 million units worth N1.5 billion, UBA transacted 17.9 million units valued at N594.5 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 16.2 million units for N695.4 million, Oando sold 15.6 million units worth N950.4 million, and United Capital traded 15.4 million units valued at N265.3 million.