NSE: Trading succumbs to profit taking, low earnings

Profit taking embarked upon by some investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday led to marginal drop of the crucial market indices.

Specifically, the All-Share Index lost 28.19 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 33,167.88 compared with 33,196.07 achieved on Monday.

Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N12.119 trillion dipped N11 billion to close at N12.108 trillion.

A capital market analyst, Mr Ambrose Omordion, said that investors took advantage of gains posted in the recent time to make capital appreciation.

Omordion said that the market was also reacting to unimpressive earnings released by some companies due to challenging operating environment.

He noted that recovery in the market might not be sustained due to low liquidity, mixed numbers and political risk ahead of 2019 polls.

However, Seplat topped the losers’ table, dropping N25.40 to close at N615.50 per share.

Lafarge Africa trailed with a loss of 75k to close at N17.50, while FBN Holdings also dipped by 75k to close at N8.25 per share.

Zenith Bank depreciated by 75k to N23.70, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated decreased by 70k to close at N16.05 per share.

Conversely, Presco topped the gainers’ table, gaining N5 to close at N58 per share.

Stanbic IBTC came second with N3.50 to close at N52.50, while Dangote Cement added N3.0 to close at N216 per share.

Mobil Oil increased by N1.50 to close at N176.50, while Cadbury gained 50k to close at N10 per share.

A breakdown of the activity chart indicates that Guaranty Trust Bank was the most active stock, trading 57.63 million shares valued at N2.19 billion.

Sterling Bank followed with an account of 57.04 million shares worth N88.33 million, while FCMB Group exchanged 41.09 million shares valued at N63.68 million.

Custodian and Allied Insurance traded 25.93 million shares worth N129.66 million, while FBN Holdings sold 12.17 million shares valued at N106.47 million.

In all, the volume of shares traded rose by 105.42 per cent as investors bought and sold 309.16 million shares worth N5.99 billion exchanged in 3,418 deals.

This was in contrast with a total of 150.50 million shares valued at N2.88 billion traded in 2,624 deals on Monday.