NSE market capitalisation drops further by N17bn

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) market capitalisation closed trading for the week on Thursday with a loss of N17 billion.
Specifically, market capitalisation dipped N17 billion or 0.13 per cent to close at N13.136 trillion against N13.153 trillion posted on Wednesday.
Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 32.37 points or 0.13 per cent to close at 25,182.67 against 25, 215.04 recorded on Wednesday.
The downtrend was impacted by losses recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are: Julius Berger, Nigerian Breweries, UACN, Lafarge Africa and Caverton Offshore.
Analysts noted that the market sustained prior day decline on profit taking in stocks that have gained over time.
Commenting, Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., said the mixed trend was likely to continue in the preceding week due to anticipated profit taking by investors.
Omordion noted that the current undervalue state of the market offers opportunities for positioning.
He urged investors to target fundamentally sound, and dividend-paying stocks for possible capital appreciation going forward.
Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals dominated the gainers’ table in percentage terms, gaining of 9.83 per cent, to close at N2.57, per share.
Unity Bank followed with 9.62 per cent to close at 57k, while Associated Bus Company rose by 8.89 per cent to close at 49k, per share.
Japaul Oil garnered 8.70 per cent to close at 25k, while AIICO Insurance appreciated by 6.31 per cent to close at N1.18 per share.
On the other hand, Caverton Offshore led the losers’ chart in percentage terms, dropping 10 per cent, to close at N2.25, per share.
Prestige Assurance followed with a decline of 9.09 per cent to close at 70k, while Mutual Benefits Assurance lost 8.33 per cent to close at 22k, per share.
Oando lost 7.14 per cent to close at N2.60, while Julius Berger shed 6.59 per cent, to close at N19.85, per share.
However, the total volume traded rose by 26.43 per cent as investors bought and sold 337.13 million shares, worth N3.41 billion traded in 3,880 deals.
This was against a turnover of 266.65 million shares valued at N3.18 billion traded in 3,978 deals on Wednesday.
Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank topped the activity chart with 81.21 million shares worth N2.02 billion.
Mutual Benefits Assurance followed with 44.84 million shares valued at N10.12 million, while FBN Holdings traded 25.06 million shares worth N134.09 million.
FCMB Group sold 15.54 million shares valued at N26.74 million, while Caverton transacted 14.07 million shares worth N33.88 million.
The market will reopen on June 15, as the Federal Government declared June 12 Public Holiday to mark the Democracy Day Celebration.