By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated on Thursday by 1.77 per cent on the back of profit-taking in the shares of UPDC, Dangote Cement and 13 others.
The duo lost 10.00 per cent each yesterday to close at N9.00 and N252.00 respectively, while Neimeth went down by 6.86 per cent to N1.63, May & Baker dropped 6.46 per cent to N4.20 and Pharma Deko fell by 5.21 per cent to finish at N2.00.
It was observed that the market breadth closed positive during the session with 22 price gainers led by Skyway Aviation, which grew by 9.66 per cent to N4.88.
Oando appreciated by 8.83 per cent to N4.93, Coronation Insurance grew by 8.51 per cent to 51 kobo, Mutual Benefits rose by 8.33 per cent to 26 kobo, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance went up by 8.16 per cent to 53 kobo.
However, the gains posted by these equities could not save the exchange from sinking yesterday and as a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) depleted by 749.94 points to 41,685.22 points from 42,435.16 points, while the market capitalisation deflated by N392 billion to N21.751 trillion from N22.143 trillion.
From an analysis of the sectoral performance, it was the industrial goods index that weakened the market yesterday as it closed lower by 5.34 per cent and was the lone loser.
The energy space appreciated by 1.70 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 1.68 per cent, the insurance counter went up by 1.11 per cent and the consumer goods sector improved by 0.02 per cent.
A total of 473.5 million stocks worth N5.2 billion were traded in 3,874 deals on Thursday as against the 649.8 million stocks worth N7.2 billion transacted in 3,757 deals on Wednesday, indicating a decline in the trading volume and value by 27.13 per cent and 28.15 per cent respectively and a 3.11 per cent increase in the number of deals.
FBN Holdings remained as the most traded stock yesterday with the sale of 228.5 million units valued at N2.6 billion. Access Bank sold 45.6 million units valued at N421.9 million, Sterling Bank exchanged 37.9 million units worth N56.8 million, Unity Bank traded 26.5 million units valued at N11.8 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 18.7 million units worth N452.4 million.
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