Stock Market Depreciates by N310.85bn on Profit-taking  in Zenith Bank, Others

Kayode Tokede

The  Nigerian  stock market, yesterday depreciated by N310.85 billion over investors  profit-taking in Zenith Bank Plc and 31 others stocks listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

With 0.77per cent decline to N64.50 per share in stock price of Zenith Bank, and  9.95per cent drop in the stock price of Transcorp Hotel  Plc to N155.60 per share,  the market capitalisation of listed companies on the NGX closed at N93.659 trillion, about  0.33per cent or N310.85 billion drop from N93.969.6 trillion it open  for trading activities.

On this, the NGX All-Share Index dropped by 487.66 basis points or per cent to close at  146,940.29 basis points from 147,427.95 basis points the stock market opened for trading.

Consequently, the NGX ASI in its Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled lower at +2.4per cent and +42.8per cent, respectively.

The sectoral performance was mixed as the  NGX Insurance Index dropped by  1.5 per cent, NGX Industrial Goods Index down by 0.1per cent, and NGX Banking Index depreciated by  0.1per cent, while the NGX Oil & Gas index gained 0.1 per cent.

In addition, the NGX Consumer Goods index remained unchanged.

Overall sentiment was bearish as 22 gainers trailed 31 losers. Learn Africa recorded the highest price gain of 9.57 per cent to close at N6.30, per share. MeCure Industries followed with a gain of 8.72 per cent to close at N32.40, while Deap Capital Management and Trust rose by 7.50 per cent to close at N1.72, per share.

International Energy Insurance appreciated by 6.52 per cent to close at N2.45, while R.T. Briscoe (Nigeria) up by 5.96 per cent to close at N3.20, per share.

On the other hand, Austin Laz & Company and Eterna led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each to close at N2.07 and N31.95 respectively, while Transcorp Hotel followed with a decline of 9.95 per cent to close at N155.60, per share.

Ikeja Hotel depreciated by 9.65 per cent to close at N28.10, while UACN declined by 9.09 per cent to close at N88.00, per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded rose by 258.34 per cent to 1.973 billion units, valued at N 30.231 billion, and exchanged in 23,038 deals. Transactions in the shares of eTranzact International topped the activity chart with 1.027 billion shares valued at N7.495 billion. Access Holdings followed with 183.557 million shares worth N3.769 billion, while Cornerstone Insurance traded 115.979 million shares valued at N609.382 million.

Consolidated Hallmark Holdings traded 79.418 million shares valued at N319.320 million, while FCMB Group sold 78.086 million shares worth N850.564 million.

On market outlook, analysts at Imperial Asset Managers Limited noted that “while intermittent profit-taking may persist in recently rallied stocks, overall market resilience is expected to hold, supported by continued interest in blue-chip counters, Year-end portfolio rebalancing, Expectations of strong corporate guidance into 2026. We anticipate a mixed but stable trading pattern in the near term, with bargain hunters likely to re-enter at attractive price levels.”