NSE: Profit-taking puts the stopper on 12-day gaining spell

Traders rushing to recoup investments by leveraging the recent uptrend in the equity segment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) spurred the cessation of the 12-day bull run on the bourse on Wednesday, with profit-taking efforts causing a N143.747 billion loss.

Sell pressure in MTNN, Unilever, Zenith, Guinness and WAPCO accounted mostly for the fall in market capitalisation.

Investment in stocks has ramped up after the central bank scaled back benchmark lending rate to 11.5% in September, leading investors in low-yielding government debt to reallocate their asset in the equity market which seemingly held out better returns.

Across the sectorial indices, the Banking Index took the worst bashing by reason of losses in the stocks of Zenith, GTB, ETI, Access and UBA, declining by 3.27% to 338.89 basis points.

Market breadth was negative, with 31 losers emerging against 21 losers.

The All Share Index (ASI) closed weaker by 0.95% at 28,634.35 basis points while market capitalisation slipped to N14.967 trillion.

Year to date, the index is up by 6.68%.

TOP 5 GAINERS

Berger led gainers, appreciating by 9.84% to close at N6.70. Linkage Assurance added 9.76% to end today’s trade at N0.45. NASCON advanced by 9.59% to N12. Mutual Benefit rose to N0.23, notching up 9.52% in the process. CAP completed the top 5, climbing up by 9.36% to N18.70.

READ ALSO: NSE: Dangote Cement, MTNN, Presco drive N708bn gain

TOP 5 LOSERS

Unilever topped losers, depreciating by 9.89% to close at N12.30. Cornerstone shed 9.09% to end today’s trade at N0.60. ETI fell to N4.10, losing 8.89%. UACN Property slumped to N0.79, recording 8.14% depreciation. Custodian closed at N5.14, going down by 7.21%.

TOP 5 TRADES

832.879 million shares valued at N9.539 billion were traded today in 9,180 deals.

FBN Holdings was the most active stock with 128.790 million of its stocks worth N789.807 million traded in 743 deals. 120.623 million units of Zenith’s shares priced at N2.440 billion exchanged hands in 1324 transactions. UBA had 83.978 million shares valued at N577.159 million traded in 647 deals. Access traded 78.934 million shares estimated at N603.285 million in 660 transactions. GTB traded 76.156 million shares valued at N2.412 billion in 773 deals.

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