Stock Market Down N557bn on Profit-taking in Lafarge, 38 Others  

Kayode Tokede

The stock market section of the Nigerian Exchange Limited ((NGX) yesterday closed negative with the market capitalisation dropping by N557 billion as investors resume profit-taking activities  in Lafarge Africa Plc and 38 others

The NGX All Share Index lost by 870.23 basis points or 0.52 per cent to close at 165,397.37 basis points with the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns moderated to +6.3per cent.

Also, market capitalisation shed N557 billion to close at N105.886 trillion.

Sectoral performance was broadly negative, as the NGX Insurance  Index dropped by 1.4per cent, NGX Consumer Goods declined by 1.3per cent, NGX Banking Index down by one per cent, as NGX Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices dipped by 0.7per cent and 0,2 per cement, respectively.

Market breadth was negative, with 39 declining counters overshadowing 37 advancing stocks. John Holts, NCR Nigeria and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N7.70, N188.15 and N7.70 respectively, per share.

DEAP Capital Management & Trust followed with a gain of 9.97 per cent to close at N6.51, while Austin Laz & Company went up by 9.95 per cent to close at N4.09, per share.

On the other hand, Omatek Ventures led the losers’ chart by 9.40 per cent to close at N2.12, per share. International Energy Insurance followed with a decline of 6.06 per cent to close at N3.10, while International Breweries declined by 6.00 per cent to close at N14.10, per share.

NEM Insurance depreciated by 5.60 per cent to close at N32.00, while Lafarge Africa declined by 5.06 per cent to close at N150.00, per share.

Also, the total volume traded decreased by 6.62 per cent to 768.256 million units, valued at N21.189 billion, and exchanged in 46,481 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Holdings topped the activity chart with 54.275 million shares valued at N1.225 billion. DEAP Capital Management & Trust followed with 51.158 million shares worth N299.548 million, while Tantalizers traded 41.865 million shares valued at N169.505 million

Omatek Ventures traded 33.522 million shares valued at N77.908 million, while Japaul Gold & Ventures sold 31.497 million shares worth N80.086 million.

On market outlook, analysts at Futureview Group said, “we expect investors to trade cautiously, focusing on fundamentally strong stocks with attractive valuations.”