Investors in stocks lost N1.07 trillion as a result of profit-taking in telecom and banking stocks. On Wednesday, the market capitalization of Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) fell by N1.07 trillion, indicating that bears were in control of the local market for the second day.
In particular, the market capitalization finished at N55.357 trillion, up 1.89 percent from Tuesday’s reported N56.425 trillion.
In addition, the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) dropped 1,951.69 points to end at 101,158.46, marking a 1.89 percent down from the Tuesday closing value of 103,110.15. Due to losses at Zenith Bank, MTN Nigeria, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), the market is now in a declining state.
As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return decreased to 35.28 per cent. Meanwhile, a total of 749.13 million shares valued at N22.49 billion were exchanged in 14,092 deals. However, the market breadth closed negative with 50 declining equities outnumbering nine advancing ones.
UPDC, Zenith Bank, Royal Exchange Plc, May & Baker Nigeria and Sterling Nigeria led the laggards’ chart in percentage terms of 10 each, to close at N1.80, N35.10, 72k, N6.21 and N5.67 per share respectively. Conversely, on the gainers’ chart, Tripple Gee &Co Plc and PZ Cussons Nigeria led with a gain of 9.97 per cent each to close at N3.42 and N33.10 per share respectively.
Also, Geregu Power rose by 9.69 per cent to close at N517.80, while McNichols Plc appreciated by 9.66 per cent to close at N1.59 per share. Veritas Kapital Assurance grew by 9.09 per cent to close at 60k per share. Meanwhile, Transcorp Hotel led the volume chart with 79.68 million shares traded at N1.06 billion, United Bank of Africa (UBA) followed by 61.34 million shares worth N1.55 billion.
Zenith Bank also sold 61.18 million shares at N2.26 billion, while GTCO traded 47.91 million shares worth N1.84 billion. Access Corporation sold 43.49 shares worth N1.04 billion per share. Analysis of the market activities showed that trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 102.88 per cent.
