Nigerian stocks fell for the second consecutive trading day on Tuesday as the main equity index lost 0.16 per cent after traders dumped a number of mid-cap stocks.
Tier-1 lender GTCO led the rout that left its share price only 5 kobo away from its lowest level in 52 weeks, while cement-maker WAPCO, UBA, Transcorp and Zenith also stoked the loss.
“Although we anticipate continued profit-taking, we also expect investors to begin bargain hunting by cherry-picking fundamentally sound stocks at a discount,” said analysts at brokerage firm and investment bank United Capital.
Market breadth, which measures the depth of investors’ sentiment towards trade, was negative as 26 losers emerged relative to 9 gainers. The all-share index fell 86.7 points to 53,113.6, while market capitalisation declined to N28.6 trillion.
The index is up 24.3 per cent so far this year.
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TOP FIVE GAINERS
Publisher Learn Africa led gainers, appreciating by 9.72 per cent to close at N2.37. Sovereign Trust went up 9.38 per cent to N0.35. WAPIC rose to N0.42, notching up 5 per cent. Sterling Bank added 1.97 per cent to end trade at N1.55. Cornerstone Insurance completed the top 5, climbing by 1.64 per cent to N0.62.
TOP FIVE LOSERS
Beta Glass was the worst performing stock, declining by 18.15 per cent to close at N51.20. CAP shed 9.93 per cent to close at N18.15. Caverton fell to N1.06, losing 7.83 per cent. Livestock slid to N1.50, recording 6.25 per cent depreciation. Transcorp closed at N1.31, going down by 5.07 per cent.
TOP FIVE TRADES
Altogether, 300 million shares estimated at N3.1 billion were traded in 5,394 deals.
FCMB was the most active stock with 52.1 million units of its shares worth N182.3 Million traded in 54 deals. UBA shares of 47.7 million units, priced at N365.3 million, exchanged hands in 211 transactions. Fidelity had 39.3 million shares valued at N52.2 million traded in 236 deals. Access Holdings traded 30.1 million shares estimated at N293.9 million in 194 transactions. GTCO traded 20.4 million shares valued at N446.1 million in 658 deals.
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