Investments in equities market down by N74bn in one week
Temitope Adebayo
Investors in the equities market recorded profit-taking that led to market value dropping by N74 billion in five days. The equities market trended down all through the week save for the second and third trading sessions with an appreciation of 0.67 per cent and 0.64 per cent respectively. The NSE All-Share Index (ASI) sheds 0.61 per cent or 199.68 basis points to close at 32,515.52 basis points from 32,715.20 basis points it opened for trading last week. Consequently, market capitalisation dropped by 0.61 per cent from N12.200 trillion the equities market opened for trading to close on Friday at N12.126 trillion. Sectoral breakdown showed that all other indices finished lower with the exception of the NSE ASem, NSE Banking, NSE Insurance NSE-AFR Bank Value and NSE Oil/Gas indices which rose by 0.96 per cent, 0.68 per cent, 0.02 per cent, 0.95 per cent, and 0.13 per cent respectively. Also, value experienced 37.28 per cent decline in lower trades as 1.481 billion shares worth N17.647 billion in value were traded in 20,449 deals in the week under review as compared to 2.83 billion shares worth N28.138 billion in 28,739 deals in a prior week. According to NSE weekly report, “The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.038 billion shares valued at N10.170 billion traded in 12,232 deals; thus contributing 70.07 per cent and 57.63 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. “The Conglomerates Industry followed with 193.204 million shares worth N306.521 million in 1,330 deals. The third place was the Consumer Goods Industry with a turnover of 72.042 million shares worth N4.381 billion in 2,990 deals. “Trading in the Top Three Equities namely, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 421.500 million shares worth N1.274 billion in 2,979 deals, contributing 28.46 per cent and 7.22 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
