Kayode Tokede
Opening the holiday shortened week over Sallah celebration, the stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited yesterday (NGX) commenced active trading this week with investors profit-taking in 25 stocks against 11 gainers that eventually down the market by N90.14billion.
One of the indicators used in measuring stock market performance, the market capitalisation dropped by 0.32per cent or N90.14billion to close yesterday at N27.713trillion from N27.803trillion the stock market opened for trading.
Consequently, the NGX All-Share Index also depreciated by 0.32 per cent or 167.16 basis points to close at 51,390.25 basis points from 51,557.41 basis points the stock market opened for trading.
The sector performances of indices on the NGX were mixed as the Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 0.31 per cent to 616.99basis points and Banking Index added 0.05 per cent to close at 398.18basis points, while the Oil and Gas and Industrial good indices depreciated by 0.01 per cent and 0.04 per cent to close at 540.74basis points 2,117.01 basis points, respectively.
The stock market performance was negative as the losses printed in Multiverse Plc that dropped by 10 per cent or N0.21 to close at N1.89 and Redstarex that depreciated by 9.82 per cent or N0.27 to close at N2.48. Other losers are: Cutix that down by 8.33 per cent or 0.20 to close at N2.20; Unity Bank that depreciated by 8.16 or N0.04 to close at N0.45 and Livestock that dipped by 7.97 per cent or N0.11 to close ar N1.27 per share.
This offset the gains by CWG when its price appreciated by 10 per cent or N0.08 to close at N0.88, while Caverton added 9.84 per cent or N0.12 to close at N1.34.
In addition to gainers: Academy Press added 9.52 per cent or N0.18 to close at N2.07, while RTBriscoe gained 8.82 per dent or N0.03 to close at N0.37 and International Breweries added 7.41 per cent or N0.40 to close at N5.80.
In terms of activity levels, total volume and value increased by 73 per cent and 22per cent respectively, as investors exchanged about 199million units of shares worth N2.18billion. Guaranty Trust Holdings Plc (GTCO) was the most actively traded stock with about 51million units of shares worth about N1billion.
According to analysts at InvestmentOne Research, the stock market closed negative today due to the losses recorded in the Oil/Gas and Industrial sectors.
“Going forward, we expect investor’s sentiments to be swayed by the search for real positive returns and developments in the interest rate space.
“We reiterate that this may be a great period to pick up some quality names with a medium to long-term investment horizon,” the firm stated in its daily market report to investors.
