Selloffs persist as equity market drops N19bn

Profit-taking continued on Thursday as the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) lost N19 billion to close at N26.721 trillion as against N26.740 trillion the previous day.

The All Share Index (ASI) also decreased by 35.45 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 49,540.48 compared with 49,575.93 on Wednesday.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded by Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), First Bank of Nigeria Holding (FBNH) and Access Holding, leading to the market’s overall poor performance.

The year-to-date (YTD) return slipped to 15.98 per cent; market breadth closed negative as 17 stocks declined, while eight gained.

Sovereign Trust lnsurance recorded the highest price gain of 3.85 per cent to close at 27k per share.

Cadbury Nigeria followed with a gain of 2.69 per cent to close at N13.35, while Courteville Business Solutions appreciated by 2.08 per cent to close at 49k, per share.

Zenith Bank rode by 0.77 per cent to close at N19.65, while UBA appreciated by 0.68 per cent to close at N7.45 per share.

On the other hand, UACN Property Development Company led the losers’ chart by 6.82 per cent to close at N10.25 per share.

Vitafoam and UPCredit followed with a decline of 5.88 per cent each to close at N20 and N3.20 per share, respectively.

UPDCO lost five per cent to close at 95k, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance shed 0.84 per cent to close at 59k per share.

Also, the total volume traded declined by 57.03 per cent to 167.61 million units, valued at N1.27 billion exchanged in 3,458 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Courteville Business Solutions topped the activity chart with 38.81 million shares valued at N18.25 million.

Access Holdings followed with 28.47 million shares worth N249.36 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 10.82 million shares valued at N36.91 million.

Transcorp traded 10.69 million shares valued at N11.27 million, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance transacted 9.22 million shares worth N52.96 million.