Nigerian stocks halt seven-day rise as investors book profit

Nigerian stocks fell 0.06 per cent on Monday, its first time in seven days as investors took part of the profit that had heaped for a while.

Nigerian Breweries and FBN Holdings led the retreat, with UBA, UCAP and GTCO strengthening loss.

Market breadth, which measures investors’ sentiment, was negative as 26 losers emerged compared to 15 advancers.

“Given the expected higher yield environment, we anticipate that this will trigger asset rotation from PFAs, which could depress equity market performance,” said analysts at brokerage and investment bank United Capital in a note seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

“We expect to see sell pressures from domestic investors (particularly institutional investors),” they added.

The all-share index declined by 29.08 basis points to 45,928.27, while market capitalisation dropped to N24.7 trillion. The index has been up 7.52 per cent since the start of the year.

TOP FIVE GAINERS

Living Trust led gainers, appreciating by 9.62 per cent to close at N1.14. NNFM rose to N8.65, notching up 9.49 per cent in the process. Academy added 9.09 per cent to end trade at N0.72. Courteville went up by 8.70 per cent to N0.50. ABC Transport climbed 5.88 per cent to N0.36.

READ ALSO: Nigerian stocks halt gain in bank-led retreat

TOP FIVE LOSERS

Regal Insurance led losers, declining by 9.52 per cent to close at N0.38. FTN Cocoa shed 7.69 per cent to close at N0.36. NEM fell to N3.50, losing 5.41 per cent. Sovereign Trust dipped to N0.23, recording 4.17 per cent depreciation. Cutix closed at N2.40, going down by 4 per cent.

TOP FIVE TRADES

Altogether, 278.6 million shares estimated at N2.9 billion were traded in 4,447 deals.

Chams was the most active stock with 40.5 million units of its shares worth N8.1 million traded in 28 deals. UBA traded 35.1 million shares priced at N284.7 million in 200 transactions. Courteville had 33.3 million shares valued at N16.5 million traded in 103 deals. Sterling Bank traded 18.8 million shares estimated at N30.1 million in 86 transactions. Access Bank traded 17.1 million shares valued at N166.4 million in 194 deals.