Customs Street Succumbs to Bears, Sheds 0.06%

The loss recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was due to profit-taking in the banking and industrial goods sectors, which closed lower by 0.26 per cent and 0.24 per cent, respectively.

This happened despite the sterling performances put up by the other sectors, as the insurance index gained 3.13 per cent, the energy counter improved by 1.13 per cent, and the consumer goods space rose by 0.02 per cent.

When the bourse ended for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 60.88 points to 98,114.11 points from 98,174.99 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N36 billion to settle at N59.476 trillion compared with the previous day’s N59.512 trillion.

The worst-performing equity yesterday was Red Star Express, which lost 10.00 per cent to close at N4.41, FTN Cocoa depreciated by 5.61 per cent to N1.85, NPF Microfinance Bank declined by 3.23 per cent to N1.50, Neimeth slipped by 2.78 per cent to N2.10, and Prestige Assurance tumbled by 2.50 per cent to 78 Kobo.

The best-performing equities were University Press and Cornerstone Insurance, which improved by 10.00 per cent each to trade at N3.96 and N3.30, respectively, Sterling Holdings gained 9.98 per cent to finish at N4.85, Sunu Assurances appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N4.63, and Golden Guinea Breweries expanded by 9.84 per cent to N4.91.

Business Post reports that despite the poor outcome, investor sentiment was bullish as the NGX finished with 35 price gainers and 16 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index.

Champion Breweries was the busiest stock on Thursday with a turnover of 300.9 million units worth N1.2 billion, Fidelity Bank transacted 48.6 million units valued at N783.0 million, GTCO traded 40.2 million units for N2.1 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 35.6 million units valued at N858.9 million, and Lafarge Africa sold 29.1 million units worth N2.1 billion.

At the close of business, the trading volume increased by 38.53 per cent, the trading value went down by 35.68 per cent, and the number of deals went down by 9.82 per cent.

This was because investors transacted 723.0 million shares valued at N12.8 billion in 8,495 deals compared with the 521.9 million shares worth N19.9 billion in 9,420 deals.