Profit-taking Hits Stock Market, Investors Lose N121.5bn

• Profit-taking Hits Stock Market, Investors Lose N121.5bn

The Nigerian stock market closed in losses on Wednesday resulting in equities investors losing N121.5bn.

The market shrank for the third consecutive trading day as the All-Share Index shed 0.77 per cent to settle at 43,538.16 points while year-to-date return further moderated to 13.8 per cent.

Having shed N121.5bn, the Nigerian Stock Exchange market capitalisation settled at N15.6tn.

The negative close could be largely attributed to sell pressure across board with Dangote Cement Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc losing 2.2 per cent, two per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively.

Activity level softened as volume and value traded declined by 29.1 per cent and 6.9 per cent to 508.3 million units and N4.5bn, respectively.

Performance across sectors was largely bearish as all indices closed in the red save the banking index which appreciated by 0.6 per cent following gains in Zenith Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc, which dropped accordingly by 2.6 per cent and 1.2 per cent.

The industrial goods index led losers, as losses in Dangote Cement dragged the index 1.1 per cent lower.

In the same vein, the insurance and oil/gas indices lost 0.8 per cent apiece, following price depreciation in Aiico Insurance Plc, NEM Insurance Plc, 11 Plc and Total Nigeria Plc, which depreciated respectively by 4.5 per cent, 3.2 per cent, five per cent and 0.4 per cent.

Similarly, the consumer goods index slid by 0.3 per cent as Flour Mills Nigeria Plc and Dangote Flour Plc declined by 0.6 per cent apiece.

Investor sentiment strengthened compared to the previous session as 18 stocks advanced against 40 decliners.

The top performing stocks were Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, Linkage Assurance Plc and Lasaco Assurance Plc , which appreciated by 9.7 per cent, 6.8 per cent and 5.9 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, UNIC Diversified Holdings Plc, Skye Bank Plc and Wema Bank Plc emerged the worst performers, depreciating accordingly by 9.5 per cent, 8.9 per cent and 8.8 per cent.

“Against the backdrop of sustained profit-taking since the start of the week, we expect performance in subsequent trading sessions to remain negative. However, in light of lower pricing on fundamentally sound stocks we also anticipate more activity in the coming week as investors seek bargain opportunities,” analysts at Afrivest Securities said in a post.