Equities market drops by N27bn

The Nigerian Stock Exchange on Tuesday closed on a profit-taking note as market capitalisation dropped by 0.31 per cent or N27 billion to N8.791 trillion from N8.818 trillion.
Similarly, The NSE All-Share Index closed at 25,406.17 basis points after it went down by 78.45 basis points or 0.31 per cent from 25,485.72 basis points it opened with on Monday.
Seplat Oil Company, led the gainers’ chart when it added N36.82 to close at N396.1 per share, it was trailed by 7Up Bottling company which added 300 kobo to close at N83.00 per share, Nestle Nigeria gained 100 kobo to close at N750.00 per share, International Breweries added 75 kobo to close at N15.75 per share, while Guaranty Trust Bank recorded 45 kobo to close at N26.95 per share, among others.
Oil marketing company, Total Oil, led losers’ table when it depreciated by N12.9 to close at N260.00 per share, followed by Dangote Cement which went down by 300 kobo to close at N162.00 per share, WAPCO dropped 105 kobo to close at N38.85 per share, Pz Cussons Nigeria lost 59 kobo to close at N14.00 per share, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated depreciated by 45 kobo to close at N8.55 per share, among others.
Niger Insurance Company emerged the most traded equity on Tuesday with an exchange of 724.314 million shares worth N319.129 million. Followed by Diamond Bank having accounted for 29.411 million shares valued at N25.598 million, United Bank for Africa sold 19.851 million shares valued at N109.955 million; FBN Holdings recorded 17.673 million shares valued at N54.465 million while Fidelity Bank traded 15.679 million shares worth N12.419 million.
A total of 916.261 million shares worth N2.412 billion in 3,342 deals exchanged hands on Tuesday by investors compared with 561 million shares worth N2.437 billion in 3,032 deals that was transacted on Tuesday.