Profit-taking activities dip equities market as investors lose N7.24bn

Amid renewed profit-taking activities at the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday, equities trading closes negative as the All-Share Index (ASI) moderated by 0.03 per cent to 56,024.52 basis points.

The market’s weak performance was primarily driven by selloffs in Airtel Africa alongside Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Holding Company as the shares of these companies dipped by 0.17 per cent, 0.18 per cent and 0.18 per cent, respectively.

Accordingly, the Month-to-Date (MTD) and Year-to-Date (YTD) gains printed +0.5 per cent and +9.3 per cent, respectively.

Equities investors on Wednesday lost N7.24 billion cumulatively as the market capitalisation settled at N30.51 trillion at the end of the day’s trading activities.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 32 tickers gained relative to 12 losers. On the performance board, Honeywell Flour Mills and Eterna Oil topped the gainers’ list having appreciated in share value by 9.9 per cent, respectively, while Union Bank of Nigeria and FlourMillls of Nigeria recorded the highest losses of the day after their respective share prices dipped by 8.9 per cent and 4.2 per cent.

On sectoral performance, the NGX Banking, NGX Consumer Goods, and NGX Industrial Indices declined by 0.25 per cent, 0.01 per cent, and 0.02 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, investors’ buying interests manifest in other sub-sector gauges as their respective indices closed positive. Notably, the NGX Insurance and the NGX Oil/Gas indexes rose by 3.61 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively.

Analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 12.24 per cent. A total of 397.62 million shares valued at N6.54 billion were exchanged in 5,613 deals. Guaranty Trust Holding Company led the volume chart with 43.03 million units traded, while Airtel Africa led the value chart in deals worth N2.71 billion.

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