Nigerian bourse down 0.10% Friday as profit taking persists

The All-Share Index of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday dipped by 0.10 per cent following losses by some blue-chip stocks on The Exchange declining by 29.26 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 30,773.64 against 30,802.90 on Thursday.

Similarly, the market capitalisation which opened at N11.251 trillion shed N11 billion or 0.10 per cent to close at N11.240 trillion.

Analysts attributed the development to profit taking in preparation for Yuletide celebrations by some investors.

They noted that the market would continue to experience mixed performance until the forth coming general elections.

Seplat recorded the highest loss to lead the laggards’ chart, dropping by N8.50 to close at N584.50 per share.

Dangote Cement trailed with a loss of N3 to close at N187, while Guaranty Trust Bank dipped 90k to close at N33.80 per share.

Access Bank depreciated by 35k to close at N7.05, while FCMB Group shed 8k to close at N1.65 per share.

On the other hand, Mobil Oil led the gainers’ table, gaining N16.80 to close at N184.80 per share.

Nestle followed with a gain of N10 to close at N1,470.10, while Total appreciated by N8 to close at N200 per share.

Okomu Oil garnered N3.20 to close at N76.20, while Forte Oil increased by N2.50 to close at N28.45 per share.

Guaranty Trust Bank was the most active stock during the day, trading 39.76 million shares worth N1.01 billion.

Zenith Bank followed with an account of 24.94 million shares valued at N570.23 million, while FBN Holdings sold 17.34 million shares worth N134.55 million.

Transacorp exchanged 16.69 million shares valued at N20.50 million, while Access Bank sold 15.35 million shares worth N107.82 million.

In all, the volume of shares traded declined by 64.55 per cent as investors bought and sold 193.54 million shares valued at N3.67 billion in 2,922 deals.

This was against the 545.99 million shares worth N4.08 billion exchanged in 3,224 deals on Thursday.