By Giwa SHILE
Profit taking persisted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday with market capitalisation shedding N40 billion.
The market capitalisation lost N40 billion or 0.31 per cent to close at N12.883 trillion compared to N12.923 trillion achieved on Monday.
Also, the All-Share Index, which opened at 35,399.28 lost 111.05 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 35,288.23.
Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., said that the market was likely to continue in the negative direction until after the political party primaries.
Omordion attributed the dominance of the bears in the market to the ongoing political anxiety surrounding 2019 election.
He said the Senate decision to suspend planned meeting would further heat up the political environment as events unfold.
Omordion urged investors to go for equities with intrinsic value, especially stocks that paid interim dividend.
“We advise investors to allow numbers guide their decisions while repositioning in any stock, especially now that stock prices remain volatile amidst improved company, economic and market fundamentals,’’ he added.
TBI Africa reports that International Breweries led the gainers’ table, with N1.75 to close at N35.20 per share.
NASCON followed with a gain of 55k to close at N20.50, while Custodian and Allied insurance added 51k to close at N5.64 per share. Unilever gained 40k to close at N53, while UAC Property increased by 10k to close at N1.90 per share.
On the other hand, Flour Mills topped the losers’ chart, dropping N2 to close at N22 per share. UACN trailed with a loss of N1.35 to close at N12.05, while Berger Paint dipped 75k to close at N7.20 per share.
Eterna Oil also declined by 75k to close at N6.50, while Northern Nigeria Flour Mills was down by 70k to close at N6.50 per share.
However, a total of 164.51 million shares worth N1.61 billion were traded by investors in 3,448 deals.
This was against the 160.43 million shares valued at N2.21 billion transacted in 3,120 deals on Monday.
United Bank for Africa was the most active stock with 26.87 million shares worth N250.66 million. Lasaco Assurance came second with 12.24 million shares valued at N3.74 million, while FBN Holdings traded 11.45 million shares worth N108.94 million.
Fidelity Bank exchanged 8.29 million shares valued at N14.26 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank sold 7.48 million shares worth N289.74 million.
