NGX Opens November In The Red As Investors Lose N35bn To Profit-taking

The Nigerian equities market opened November on a negative note on Monday, as profit-taking in blue-chip and mid-cap stocks wiped N35.25 billion off investors’ wealth.

The ASI lost 54.28 points, closing at 254,245.21.

Market capitalisation fell by N35.25 billion to N165.08 trillion.

Aradel Holdings led the large-cap decliners with a 9.99 per cent drop. Access Holdings fell 7.34 per cent, Transcorp lost 5.97 per cent and Nestle Nigeria shed 3.64 per cent.

Champion and Sunu Assurances topped the losers’ chart with a 10 per cent fall each. Aradel followed, then Vitafoam (-9.97 per cent), Cornerstone (-9.89 per cent), Sovereign Insurance (-9.79 per cent) and International Energy Insurance (-9.74 per cent).

Market breadth was negative, with 42 stocks declining against 21 gainers.

Conhall led the gainers with a 10 per cent rise, followed by Livestock Feeds (+9.77 per cent ), Mansard (+9.30 per cent), UPDC (+7.46 per cent), NPF Microfinance Bank (+7.14 per cent) and AIICO (+7.04 per cent).

Three of the five major sectors closed lower. The Oil and Gas index fell 3.75 per cent, Banking lost 1.79 per  cent and Consumer Goods dropped 1.17 per cent. The Industrial Goods index rose 3.34 per  cent and Insurance gained 0.93 per cent.

Trading activity weakened. Volume fell 48.15% and value fell 44.67 per cent, as investors exchanged about 517.26 million shares worth N47.48 billion in 54,015 deals.

Honeywell Flour Mill was the most traded stock by volume, accounting for 14.38 per  cent of the total, followed by Access Holdings (8.06 per cent), GTCO (7.96 per cent), Fidelity Bank (5.65 per cent) and Conhall (5.52 per cent). Dangote Cement led by value, with 28.33 per cent of the total.