Equities market depreciates by N28bn over profit-taking in Zenith Bank, 9 other stocks

Bearish sentiments persisted in equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday as losses in Zenith Bank Plc and nine others dragged the market overall capitalisation lower by N28 billion.

The All Share Index (ASI) decreased by 51.24 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.10 per cent to close at 51,339.01 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation lost N28 billion to close at N27.685 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Zenith Bank, Champion Breweries, International Breweries, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust (UPDCReit) and Lafarge Africa.

Reviewing market performance, analysts at GTI Securities Limited said: “Equity market closed negative with a prevailing sell-off trend. We expect cautious trading to continue throughout the week.”

However, market breadth, which is measure by market sentiment was positive as 15 stocks gained relative to 10 losers.

Academy Press recorded the highest price gain of 8.70 per cent to close at N2.25 per share. Regency Alliance Insurance followed with a of gain 8.00 per cent to close at 27 kobo, while Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) appreciated by 7.95 per cent to close at 95 kobo per share.

Cutix went up by 7.27 per cent to close at N2.36, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) appreciated by 5.00 per cent to close at N8.40 per share.

On the other hand, Champion Breweries led the losers’ chart by 8.74 per cent to close at N3.55 per share. Ikeja Hotels followed with a decline of 7.69 per cent to close at N1.20, while International Breweries went down by 5.17 to close at N5.50 per share.

Multiverse Mining and Exploration lost 4.76 per cent to close at N1.80, while UPDCReit shed 4.17 per cent to close at N3.45 per share.

The total volume traded declined by 42.0 per cent to 115.410 million units, valued at N1.206 billion and exchanged in 3,731 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) topped the activity chart with 12.182 million shares valued at N15.118 million. International Breweries followed with 7.647 million shares worth N42.769 million, while FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 7.408 million shares valued at N78.782 million.

Zenith Bank traded 6.589 million shares valued at N148.275 million, while Sterling Bank transacted 6.445 million shares worth N9.981 million.