Nigerian stocks see first fall in six days as traders take profit
Nigerian stocks fell by 0.6 per cent on Monday, their first in six days, as traders zeroed in on equities that had heaped up gains in recent times to take profit.
Sell-offs in the shares of MTN Nigeria and oil palm processor Presco drove the pullback, with the entire market turnover diminishing by 46 per cent even though transaction volume was slightly up by 6 per cent.
“We expect sentiments to remain soft and could support further profit taking, particularly if fixed income yields continue to surge in light of the MPR rate hike,” said analysts at United Capital in an outlook note seen by PREMIUM TIMES.
“Nevertheless, we advise investors not to panic and rather take advantage of the dip to increase positions in attractively priced fundamental stocks,” they added.
Market breadth, which measures investors’ sentiment to trade, was positive as 22 advanced in contrast to 21 losers.
The all-share index fell by 313 points to 53,772.4, while market capitalisation closed lower at N29 trillion.
From the start of year till now, the index is up 25.9 per cent.
TOP FIVE GAINERS
Trans-Nationwide Express led gainers, appreciating by 9.86 per cent to close at N0.78. UACN rose to N11.50, notching up 9.52 per cent in the process.
Jaiz Bank added 8.97 per cent to end trade at N0.85. Livestock went up by 6.67 per cent to N1.60. Royal Exchange completed the top 5, climbing by 6.12 per cent to N1.04.
TOP FIVE LOSERS
Presco led losers, declining by 10 per cent to close at N162. Julius Berger shed 9.17 per cent to close at N26.25. UPL fell to N2.60, losing 8.77 per cent. FTN Cocoa slid to N0.32, recording 8.57 per cent depreciation. May & Baker closed at N4.01, going down by 7.60 per cent.
TOP FIVE TRADES
Altogether, 227.6 million shares estimated at N3 billion were traded in 4,586 deals.
Transcorp was the most active stock with 70.1 million units of its shares worth N85.1 million traded in 187 deals. Access Corporation traded 21.2 million shares priced at N212.4 million exchanged hands in 233 transactions.
Jaiz had 16.3 million shares valued at N13.6 million traded in 58 deals. Sterling Bank traded 10.5 million shares estimated at N15.9 million in 57 transactions. Royal Exchange traded 10.2 million shares valued at N9.5 million in 76 deals.
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