Profit taking: NSE All-Share Index plunges further by 0.58%

Bears maintained dominance for the third consecutive trading days on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), forcing the crucial market indicators to drop further by 0.58 per cent.
The All-Share Index lost 215.52 points or 0.58 per cent to close at 36,748.18 as against 36,963.70 recorded on Tuesday, amid price depreciation by some blue chips.
Specifically, Guaranty Trust Bank led the laggards’ table, declining by N2.65 to close at N36.55 per share.
Okomu Oil Palm trailed with a loss of N2 to close at N83, while FBN Holdings dipped N1 to close at N9.25 per share.
Oando declined by 50k to close at N4.75, while Nigerian Breweries also decreased by 50k to close at N118 per share.
The market capitalisation of the exchange shed N78 billion or 0.58 per cent to close at N13.312 trillion compared to N13.390 trillion on Tuesday.
Conversely, International Breweries led the gainers’ table for the day, appreciating by N3.50 to close at N41 per share.
PZ Industries followed with a gain of N2 to close at N83, while Dangote Sugar Refinery Nigeria appreciated by 35k to close at N18.30 per share.
Cadbury gained 35k to close at N11.50, while Union Bank of Nigeria increased by 20k to close at N5.90 per share.
However, Transcorp dominated the activity chart, exchanging 16.77 million shares worth N20.64 million.
Zenith International Bank came second with 15.15 million shares valued at N361.67 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 14.94 million shares worth N29.79 million.
Oando traded 11.11 million shares at a cost of N53.63 million, while Access Bank transacted 10.69 million shares valued at N106.98 million.
In all, the volume of shares traded closed lower dropping by 11.05 per cent as investors bought and sold 181.28 million shares worth N1.64 billion in 3,854 deals.
This was in contrast with 203.80 million shares valued at N2.39 billion achieved in 4,178 deals on Tuesday.