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Profit-taking in 18 stocks drags capitalisation by N38 billion

 THE Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) reopened on a downturn yesterday, as profit-taking in Learn Africa, 17 stocks dragged market capitalisation by N38 billion.

The all-share index fell by 70.37 absolute points, or  0.15 percent, to settle at 46,893.86 points at the close of trading yesterday.

Similarly, the market capitalisation dropped N38billion to N25.273 trillion at the end.

Losses in large and medium capitalised stocks, including as Zenith Bank, Ardova, FBN Holdings (FBNH), FCMB Group, and Learn Africa, impacted the decline.

Reacting to market performance, analysts at GTI Securities Limited said: “The week starts with a reverse of the last trading session, as sell-off persists across all sectors. We expect this to continue this week, with uncertainties hovering around the equity market.”

United Capital also said: “This week, we expect to see continued profit-taking on positions that have appreciated, while investors reduce market exposure as dividend season gradually draws to a close. We retain a preference for investors to continue to seek selling opportunities to reduce exposure to the domestic equities market.”

Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “As expected, the week started mixed with the banking sector taking the most hit, despite trades in that space dominating the activity chart. We foresee a further mixed trading pattern, as investors continue to bargain hunt across the board, whilst taking profit on some recent gainers”.

Market sentiment was even, with 18 gainers and 18 losers, as assessed by market breadth. Beta Glass saw the biggest price increase of 9.92%, closing at N58.20 kobo.

PZ Cussons Nigeria gained 9.68 percent to N10.20 kobo, while Livestock Feeds gained 9.03 percent to N1.69 kobo.

Linkage Assurance increased by 8% to close at 54 kobo, while Jaiz Bank increased by 6.06 percent to close at 70 kobo.

Learn Africa, on the other hand, led the losers’ list by 9.68 percent, closing at N1.96, per share. Unity Bank then fell 8.16 percent to 45 kobo, while Caverton Offshore Support Group fell 7.09 percent to N1.18 kobo.

FCMB Group was down 6.89 percent to N3.11, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) was down 6.54 percent to N1.

The overall amount traded, however, increased by 103.2 percent to 359.89 million shares worth N2.611 billion, transacted in 5,163 transactions. Transcorp shares were the most actively traded, with 92.001 million shares worth N92.757 million changing hands.

Following that, Sterling Bank sold 50.739 million shares worth N76.618 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 46.677 million shares worth N153.611 million.

Access Holdings traded 15.458 million shares for N156.404 million, while Linkage Assurance traded 30.514 million shares worth N15.274 million.

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Naija Times