Nigerian stocks fell 0.12 per cent as investors took profit in newly admitted BUA Foods, which had garnered over 59 per cent until the end of last week when gains began to plateau.
Major declines were also reported by Transcorp and NGX Group on a day that trade volume tumbled by as much as 47 per cent.
Ahead of an analyst call due on Tuesday, BUA Foods issued its earnings report for the nine months to September, which shows after-tax profit at N16.6 billion. That translates to a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.2 at the close of business on Monday, meaning the stock is significantly overvalued and is trading high above its real value.
A negative market breadth was reported as there were 22 laggards against 16 gainers at the end of trade.
“We expect the market to sustain its bullish momentum as investors continue to position themselves ahead of the dividend season amidst profit-taking activities off high-performing stocks,” analysts at brokerage firm and investment bank United Capital said in their forecast note for this week seen by PREMIUM TIMES.
The all-share index moderated by 55.01 points, closing at 44,399.66, while market capitalisation closed lower at N23.9 trillion.
Year to date, the index is down by 3.94 per cent.
TOP FIVE GAINERS
The Initiates led gainers, appreciating by 10 per cent to close at N0.44. Sunu Assurance went up by 9.68 per cent to N0.34.
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Eterna rose to N6, notching up 6.95 per cent in the process. Wapic added 6.25 per cent to end trade at N0.51. Consolidated Hallmark completed the top 5, climbing by 4.48 per cent to N0.70.
TOP FIVE LOSERS
Veritas Kapital led losers, declining by 8.70 per cent to close at N0.21. Mutual Benefits shed 7.41 per cent to close at N0.25. Cornerstone fell to N0.51, losing 7.27 per cent.
BUA Foods slumped to N61.80, recording 6.36 per cent depreciation. Courtville closed at N0.35, going down by 5.41 per cent.
TOP FIVE TRADES
A total of 214.3 million shares estimated at N2.7 billion were in 4,410 deals.
Transcorp was the most active stock, with 39.3 million units worth N43 billion traded in 248 deals. FBN Holdings shares of 25.5 million units priced at N306 million exchanged hands in 149 transactions.
GTCO had 24.8 million shares valued at N625.1 million traded in 558 deals. Zenith Bank traded 20.9 million shares estimated at N534 million in 347 transactions. Fidelity traded 10.4 million shares valued at N27.2 million in 98 deals.
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