Profit taking: Stock market down N155bn

Profit taking was persistent on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday with investors net worth dropping further by N155 billion.
Specifically, the market capitalisation dipped N155 billion or 1.17 per cent to close at N13.049 trillion compared with N13.204 trillion achieved on Thursday.
Also, the All-Share Index which opened at 25,312.05 shed 295.75 points or 1.17 per cent to close at 25,016.30.
An analysis of the price movement table shows that Dangote Cement topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N2.90 to close at N139 per share.
BUA Cement trailed with a loss of N2.30 to close at N40, while Nigerian Breweries lost N2 to close at N42 per share.
Cadbury was down by 80k to close at N7.65, while Guinness dipped by 70k to close at N18.30 per share.
On the other hand, Boc Gases dominated the gainers’ table, gaining 40k to close at N4.40 per share.
Skyway Aviation Handling followed with 24k to close at N2.73, while NASCON gained 20k to close at N11.50 per share.
Custodian Investment garnered 20k to close at N6.05, while Neimeth Pharmaceuticals increased by 16k to close at N1.77 per share.
The volume of shares traded dipped by 20.62 per cent as investors bought and sold 214.49 million shares valued at N2.51 billion in 4,342 deals.
This was in contrast with 270.19 million shares worth N5.29 billion transacted in 4,550 deals on Thursday.
The banking stocks drove the activity chart with Zenith Bank emerging the most active, exchanging 22.27 million shares worth N373.34 million.
Fidelity Bank followed with an account of 18.54 million shares valued at N33.48 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank sold 17.16 million shares worth N412.26 million.
Nigerian Breweries traded 15.59 million shares valued at N666.58 million, while FBN Holdings accounted for 15.55 million shares worth N83.75 million.