Equities market sheds N19bn over profit-taking

Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Wednesday closed on a bearish note, with the overall market capitalisation value dropped by N19 billion to close at N21.906 trillion.

Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 37.94 basis points, representing a decrease of 0.09 per cent, to close at 41,975.45 points.

At the close of yesterday trading activities, statistics showed that price depreciation in Ardova Plc, Lafarge Africa, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup), Zenith Bank and Eterna, largely contributed to the decline in the market performance.

The summary of the NGX performance showed that there was a total of 20 losers, compared to 13 gainers.

For the gainer’s table, Multiverse Mining and Exploration and Universal Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at 22 kobo each, while Honeywell Flour Mills followed with a gain of 9.78 per cent to close at N3.48, per share.

Sterling Bank went up by 6.85 per cent to close at N1.56, while Wapic Insurance appreciated by 6.25 per cent to close at 51 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Lasaco Assurance led the losers’ chart by 9.40 per cent to close at N1.06, while Sovereign Trust Insurance and Chams Plc followed with a decline of 8.33 per cent each to close at 22 kobo each, per share.

Ardova shed 7.53 per cent to close at N13.50, while Linkage Assurance depreciated by 7.02 per cent to close at 53 kobo, per share.

The total volume of trades decreased by 37.2 per cent to 292.936 million units, valued at N2.060 billion, and exchanged in 4,899 deals. Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings (FBNH) topped the activity chart with 58.608 million shares valued at N614.764 million.

Multiverse Mining and Exploration followed with 32.080 million shares worth N6.442 million, while Mutual Benefits Assurance traded 21.553 million shares valued at N5.257 million.

Sterling Bank traded 18.482 million shares valued at N28.151 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) transacted 15.965 million shares worth N16.144 million.