Equities market depreciates by N426bn as profit-taking rocks Seplat Energy, 19 others
Bears maintained grip as the equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) extended losses into the second trading of the week, as investors sold off Seplat Energy Plc and 19 other stocks.
The All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 789.91 basis points or 1.60 per cent to close at 48,554.76 basis points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation size shed N426 billion to close at N26.189 trillion
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Seplat Energy, Dangote Cement, BUA Foods, BUA Cement and Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) Plc.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 20 stocks lost relative to nine gainers. FTN Cocoa processors and NEM Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at 33 kobo and N4.40 respectively, while Honeywell Flour Mills followed with a gain of 9.89 per cent to close at N2.89 per share.
University Press went up by 9.88 per cent to close at N1.89, while Mutual Benefits Assurance rose by 7.41 per cent to close at 29 kobo per share.
On the other hand, BUA Foods led the losers’ chart by 9.92 per cent to close at N54.00, per share. NNFM followed with a decline of 9.88 per cent to close at N7.75, while Seplat Energy fell by 8.44 per cent to close at N1,300 per share.
Eterna went down by 8.33 to close at N6.05, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) shed 7.56 per cent to close at N5.50 per share.
Meanwhile, the total volume traded increased by 66.3 per cent to 204.153 million units, valued at N3.183 billion, and exchanged in 3,533 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Mutual Benefits Assurance topped the activity chart with 44.006 million shares valued at N12.762 million. Zenith Bank followed with 25.197 million shares worth N554.793 million, while FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 22.091 million shares valued at N236.877 million.
Access Holdings traded 12.974 million shares valued at N107.728 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 11.174 million shares worth N78.837 million.
