NSE: Market capitalisation dips by N123bn on profit taking

Highly capitalised stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded price depreciation amidst profit taking with the market capitalisation dropping by N123 billion on Thursday.
The market capitalisation, which opened at N14.848 trillion, shed N123 billion or 0.83 per cent to close at N14.725 trillion on losses posted by Nigerian Breweries and Dangote Cement.
Similarly, the All-Share Index lost 341.56 points or 0.83 per cent to close at 40,651.42 compared with 40,992.97 achieved on Wednesday.
Nigerian Breweries topped the laggards’ table with a loss of N4.40 to close at N123.30 per share.
Dangote Cement trailed with a loss of N2 to close at N248, while Cement Company of Northern Nigeria shed N1.45 to close at N26.10 per share.
Lafarge Africa was down by N1 to close at N40, while Stanbic IBTC also declined by N1 to close at N48 per share.
On the other hand, Oando led the gainers’ table for the day, gaining 35k to close at N7.55 per share.
Flour Mills followed with a gain of 30k to close at N35, while Custodian and Allied Insurance gained 25k to close at N5.25 per share.
Zenith Bank appreciated by 15k to close at N27.90, while UAC Property added 10k to close at N2.25 per share.
In spite of the drop in market indices, the volume of shares transacted rose by 63.54 per cent, while the value appreciated by 73.62 per cent.
Consequently, investors bought and sold 424.37 million shares valued at N7.57 billion against 259.49 million shares worth N4.36 billion achieved in 4,000 deals on Wednesday.
Zenith dominated trading activities, exchanging 170.61 million shares valued at N4.74 billion.
Access Bank followed with an account of 44.21 million shares worth N486.26 million, while FCMB Group sold 25.86 million shares valued at N69.52 million.
Niger Insurance exchanged 23.39 million shares worth N5.15 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 16.33 million shares valued at N36.39 million.