The stock market segment of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) kicked off the new week on a negative note, dropping by N448.41 billion over investors' profit-taking in BUA Cement Plc and 27 others listed companies.
As the stock price of BUA Cement dropped by 10 per cent to close at N99.00 per share, the overall market capitalisation closed yesterday at N59.812 trillion, about N448.41 billion decline from N60.2601 trillion it closed for trading last week.
Consequently, the NGX All-Share Index declined by 0.74 per cent to close at 98,708.90 basis points from 99,448.91basis points it opened for trading, with the Month-till-Date (MtD) and Year-till-Date (YtD)returns moderating to +0.2per cent and +32.0per cent, respectively.
Sectoral performance on the Exchange was negative, as the NGX Industrial Goods index was down by 3.5per cent, NGX Banking index and NGX Insurance index dropped by 1.5per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.
In addition, NGX Oil & Gas index depreciated by 0.3per cent, and NGX Consumer Goods index fell by 0.3per cent.
Also, market breadth closed negative as 18 stocks gained relative to 28 losers.
Eunisell recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N3.85, per share. Livestock followed with a gain of 9.97 per cent to close at N3.75, while Transcorp increased by 9.95 per cent to close at N48.60, per share.
RT Briscoe went up by 9.84per cent to close at N3.35, while Jaiz Bank appreciated by 9.28 per cent to close at N2.59, per share.
On the other hand, BUA Cement led the losers' chart by 10 per cent to close at N99 kobo, per share. LASACO followed with a decline of 9.79per cent to close at 2.58, while Daarcomm declined by 9.38 per cent to close at N0.58, per share.
The stock price of Regacny insurance dropped by 8.93 per cent to close at N0.51 per share as JapaulGold dipped by 6.58 per cent to close at N2.28 per share.
The total volume of trades decreased by 25per cent to 345.79 million units, valued at N4.38 billion, and exchanged in 9,281 deals. Chams was the most traded stock by volume at 84.62 million units, while UBA was the most traded stock by value at N790.18 million.
On the stock market performance this week, analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited pointed that the recent positive quarterly corporate earnings reports have further buoyed market sentiment, particularly in the banking, industrial goods, and consumer goods sectors, delivering strong performances from key players and driving the benchmark index closer to the 100,000-points psychological threshold.
"Notably, we think the current rally is likely to persist, though cautious profit-taking activities may create intermittent dips. Looking ahead, we see the local bourse poised for further gains as investors look forward to the upcoming macroeconomic data releases and corporate earnings reports, which are anticipated to influence short-term trading dynamics," Cowry stated.
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The chief operating officer of InvestData Consulting Limited, Mr. Ambrose Omordion said: "We expect positive sentiment and mixed trend to continue on profit taking and positioning, ahead of more Q3 earnings reports. Also, sector rotation and portfolio rebalancing continue in the market, with investors taking advantage of pullbacks to buy into value."
