Equities market begins June on investors profit-taking

Starting the new month, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) equities market maintained the losing streak for the third consecutive session as the benchmark Index lost 0.03 per cent.

The All-Share Index fell by 16.13 basis points or 0.03 per cent to close at 52,974.15 basis points. Accordingly, investors lost N9 billion in value as market capitalisation declined to N28.559 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Okomu Oil, Conoil, Unilever Nigeria, FBN Holdings (FBNH) and NCR Nigeria.

Also, market sentiment, as measured by market breadth closed negative as 20 stocks declined, relative to 14 gainers.

Eterna Plc recorded the highest price gain of 9.90 per cent to close at N7.44, per share. FTN Cocoa processors followed with a gain of 9.38 per cent to close at 35 kobo, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) rose by 8.57 per cent to close at N7.22, per share.

Ikeja Hotel appreciated by 7.83 per cent to close at N1.24, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) was up by 4.00 per cent to close at N1.30, per share.

On the other hand, Okomu Oil led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N193.50, per share. NCR Nigeria followed with a decline of 9.77 per cent to close at N3.60, while Conoil depreciated by 8.35 per cent  to close at N29.30, per share.

Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals declined by 7.19 per cent to close at N1.55, while Fidelity Bank depreciated by 4.71 per cent to close at N3.24, per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded decreased by 7.20 per cent to 295.354 million units, valued at N3.590 billion, and exchanged in 4,637 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) topped the activity chart with 121.837 million shares valued at N156.150 million. Guaranty Trust Holding Company followed with 20.124 million shares worth N454.746 million, while Conoil traded 16.955 million shares valued at N493.420 million.

Sterling Bank traded 16.051 million shares valued at N23.696 million, while Royal Exchange transacted 11.825 million shares worth N11.018 million.

On market performance, GTI Securities Limited said: “Profit-taking continues in yesterday’s trading as all the market sectors closed negative excluding the consumer goods sector, which increased by 0.09 per cent. We expect fixed income rate to continue to be appealing to investors in the near term.”