By Chris Ndibe
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) opened trading for the week on Monday with a loss of N35 billion, amid weak sentiments.
Market capitalisation, which opened at N13.145 trillion inched lower by N35 billion or 0.27 per cent, to close at N13.110 trillion.
Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) lost 67.17 points or 0.27 per cent to close at 25,132.67 from 25,199.84 achieved on Friday.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, Vitafoam Nigeria, UACN, International Breweries and United Capital.
Analysts at United Capital Plc predicted that the market would witness mixed performance this week due to anticipated profit taking by short-term players.
Also, analysts at Afrinvest Limited said, “Given the sell-offs that dominated today’s trading session, we anticipate bargain hunting in subsequent trading days.”
Livestock Feeds led the losers’ chart in percentage terms, dropping by 8.33 per cent, to close at 55k per share.
Vitafoam came second with a loss of 5.22 per cent to close at N5.45, while International Breweries dipped 3.51 per cent to close at N2.75 per share.
Honeywell Flour Mill lost 3.16 per cent to close at 92k, while Cutix dropped 2.78 per cent to close at N1.75 per share.
On the other hand, Unilever recorded the highest price appreciation to lead the gainers’ table in percentage terms, gaining 10 per cent to close at N13.75 per share.
Northern Nigeria Flour Mills trailed with 9.82 per cent to close at N4.25, while Julius Berger grew by 9.63 per cent to close at N16.50 per share.
AXA Mansard Insurance improved by 9.43 per cent to close at N1.74, while Ardova appreciated by 9.41 per cent to close at N13.95 per share.
In the same vein, the total volume of shares traded dipped 66.59 per cent with an exchange of 161.23 million shares worth N1.85 billion achieved in 3,597 deals.
This was in contrast with 482.52 million shares valued at N4.52 billion transacted in 3,897 deals on Friday.
Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank topped the activity chart with 19.03 million shares worth N472.19 billion.
Zenith Bank followed with 18.60 million shares valued at N311.49 million, while Sterling Bank traded 14.33 million shares worth N16.75 million.
FBN Holdings sold 12.71 million shares valued at N63.82 million, while International Breweries accounted for 11.24 million shares worth N31.11 million.
