NSE loses N74.40bn as market open week negative

By Kayode Tokede

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) began trading for the week on Monday with a loss of 0.35 per cent as a result of persistent profit taking.

Specifically, the NSE All-Share Index lost 144.78 basis points or 0.35 per cent to close at 41,564.31 basis points, compared with 41,709.09 basis points posted on Friday.

Also, market capitalisation, which opened at N21.818 trillion, dipped N74 billion to clo   Mining and Exploration rose by 8.33 per cent to close at 26k per share.

Fidson rose by 8.30 per cent to close at N6, while Africa Prudential appreciated by 8.21 per cent to close at N7.25 per share.

The total volume of shares transacted dropped 29.4 per cent with an exchange of 340.28 million shares worth N2.64 billion in 5,251 deals.

This is against a turnover of 482.19 million shares valued at N5.58 billion exchanged in 5,998 deals on Friday.

Transactions in the shares of Union Bank of Nigeria topped the activity chart with 78.81 million shares worth N457.06 million.

FBN Holdings came second with 54.25 million shares valued at N396.42 million, while Access Bank accounted for 33.96 million shares worth N289.60 million.

Transcorp sold 16.69 million shares valued at N16.83 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 14.17 million shares worth N368.61 million.

According to analysts at Investment One research, “The equities market closed down today due to the losses recorded in most sectors.

“Going forward, we expect investor’s sentiments to be swayed by the search for real positive returns amidst a low interest-rate environment.

“We reiterate that this may be a great period to pick up some quality names with a medium to long-term investment horizon.”