BUA Cement, MTN, 32 Others Shrink NSE Index By 1.46%

The big boys of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) reduced the value of the market on Friday as investors booked profit on them because of the price appreciation they have recorded in the past days.

Giditrendz gathered that when activities were brought to an end yesterday, the market was down by 1.46 per cent as a result of the sell-off in the blue-chip stocks.

Consequently, the All Share Index (ASI) shrank by 506.83 points to 34,136.82 points from 34,643.65 points, while the market capitalisation went down by N264 billion to close at N17.838 trillion as against N18.102 trillion it ended at the preceding session.

The biggest price loser yesterday was BUA Cement as the cement stock lost N2.55 to close at N53.45 per unit and was trailed by MTN Nigeria, which declined by N2 to settle at N153 per unit.

Dangote Cement depreciated by N1.80 to end at N193.20 per share, Dangote Sugar went down by 70 kobo to trade at N20.50 per share, while Ecobank dropped 60 kobo to sell at N6.35 per unit.

On the gainers’ chart, UPDC REIT was on top after adding 35 kobo to its equity price to finish at N4.15 per share and was trailed by NEM Insurance, which grew by 23 kobo to close at N2.58 per unit.

NAHCO appreciated by 12 kobo to sell at N2.30 per share, Ikeja Hotel gained 10 kobo to trade at N1.10 per unit, while AIICO Insurance went up by 9 kobo to close at N1.01 per unit.

During trading yesterday, investors bought and sold 344.9 million shares worth N4.2 billion in 6,565 deals as against the 364.9 million equities worth N3.5 billion transacted in 6,340 deals the previous session. This indicated a decline in the trading volume by 5.49 per cent, a rise in the trading value by 20.57 per cent and a growth in the number of deals by 3.55 per cent.

Zenith Bank was the most active stock by volume as a total of 44.3 million units of its stocks priced at N1.1 billion exchanged hands among investors on Friday.

UBA traded 41.2 million units worth N337.8 million, FBN Holdings transacted 34.3 million shares for N255.3 million, Access Bank exchanged 29.3 million equities valued at N256.3 million, while Transcorp sold 28.8 million stocks for N29.1 million.

Giditrendz also obtained that apart from the insurance sector, which gained 1.59 per cent yesterday supposedly as a result of the buying pressure on NEM Insurance because of the 9 bonus shares for every 10 stocks held by shareholders proposed by the board, every other sector declined.

The worst hit was the industrial goods counter, which lost 2.41 per cent. The banking index fell by 2.16 per cent, the consumer goods space declined by 0.66 per cent, while the energy ecosystem depreciated by 0.31 per cent.