By Dipo Olowookere
Banking stocks witnessed profit-taking on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, resulting in the bourse falling by 0.06 per cent at the close of business.
According to data from Customs Street, the banking index lost 0.67 per cent to selling pressure during the trading day. It was the only decliner of the five key sectors monitored by this newspaper.
The insurance space grew by 1.33 per cent, the consumer goods counter appreciated by 0.19 per cent, the energy sector expanded by 0.09 per cent, and the industrial goods segment improved by 0.04 per cent.
But when trading activity closed for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 143.58 points to 252,313.16 points from 252,456.74 points, and the market capitalisation dipped by N93 billion to N163.825 trillion from N163.918 trillion.
The worst-performing equity was NAHCO, which lost 9.99 per cent to trade at N136.10. Red Star Express shrank by 9.85 per cent to N12.35, Livingtrust Mortgage Bank fell by 9.79 per cent to N2.58, Abbey Bank declined by 5.22 per cent to N6.35, and Caverton contracted by 4.29 per cent to N3.35.
The best-performing equity, on the other hand, was Champion Breweries, which grew by 10.00 per cent to N9.35. Honeywell Flour jumped 9.90 per cent to N32.20, CMFC gained 8.75 per cent to close at N3.23, Sovereign Trust Insurance surged by 8.41 per cent to N2.32, and University Press rose by 8.33 per cent to N4.55.
Business Post reports that despite the loss printed by NGX yesterday, the market breadth was bullish after recording 32 price gainers and 21 price losers, implying strong investor sentiment.
The busiest stock was Neimeth, with a turnover of 79.9 million units valued at N481.6 million. First Holdco sold 57.8 million units worth N6.3 billion, Mecure Industries traded 46.5 million units for N3.8 billion, UBA transacted 38.3 million units valued at N1.6 billion, and Access Holdings exchanged 23.5 million units worth N752.7 million.
In all, market participants traded 545.3 million shares for N30.4 billion in 31,543 deals during the session versus the 453.3 million shares worth N30.6 billion transacted in 42,891 deals a day earlier. This indicated that the trading volume rose by 20.30 per cent, the trading value dropped by 0.65 per cent, and the number of deals depleted by 26.46 per cent.
