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By Chinwendu Obienyi
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited resumed yesterday’s session on a negative note as profit taking in bellwether stocks led to N76 billion shaved off the market capitalisation of the exchange.
Investors, as at last week, had taken profits off dividend-paying stocks which resulted in a 0.16 per cent decline in the market’s main index with analysts suggesting that the trend could continue due to uncertainties about the direction of yields in the fixed income market.
Specifically, the market’s All Share Index (ASI), which opened the new trading week at 47,202.30 points, fell by 0.29 per cent to close Monday at 47,063.28 points while investors lost N76 billion as market capitalisation closed at N25.360 trillion from N25.436 trillion recorded in the previous trading session.
Further analysis of the market’s performance revealed that the volume of stocks traded stood at 338.02 units valued at N5.67 billion, exchanged in 5,619 deals.
Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with the sale of 358.21 million shares valued at N104.93 billion. Access Bank sold 338.54 million shares worth N353.71 billion while Transcorp traded 328.76 million shares valued at N385.05 million.
Investors sentiment for stocks remained positive as 23 stocks appreciated in value while 21 stocks depreciated. LearnAfrica topped the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N1.65, Guinness was next with 10 per cent to close at N66.56, NCR increased by 10 per cent to close at N3.63, UPL garnered 9.81 per cent to close at N2.91 while Academy added 9.56 per cent to close at N1.49.
On the other hand, JapaulGold led the laggards with 7.69 per cent to close at 0.36 kobo per share. Courtville slipped down by 7.27 per cent to close at 0.51 kobo, Custodian dropped 5.70 per cent to close at N7.45, NGX Group lost 5.66 per cent to close at N25 while NPF Microfinance Bank declined by 5.45 per cent to close at N2.08.
