NSE All-Share Index drops by 0.52 per cent

The profit taking embarked upon by investors persisted on Wednesday with market indices dropping by 0.52 per cent, following price loses. Trading for the third consecutive day maintained a downward trend as the All-Share Index lost 162.60 points or 0.52 per cent to close at 31,107.11. This was against 31,269.71 posted on Tuesday due to huge losses recorded by some blue chip equities.
The market capitalisation dropped further by N55 billion to close at N10.662 trillion in contrast with N10.717 trillion recorded on Tuesday. Mobil led the laggards’ chart with a loss of N8.20 to close at N156.80 per share. Nestle came second shedding N5 to close at N860, while Guinness dropped N4 to close at N127 per share. Seplat lost N2 to close at N298, while Flour Mill dipped N1.47 to close at N28.03 per share. On the other hand, Forte Oil recorded the highest gain to lead the gainers’ table, appreciating by N7.02 to close at N212 per share.
Nigerian Breweries rose by 50k to close at N126.50, while Port Paints gained 18k to close at N3.95 per share. Dangote Cement appreciated by 15k to close at N150, while Custodian Insurance grew by 10k to close at N4.20 per share.
In spite of the drop in market indices, the volume of shares traded rose by 54.51 per cent with a turnover of 434.17 million shares worth N1.69 billion achieved in 3,105 deals. This was against 280.99 million shares valued N2.91 billion traded in 3,716 deals on Tuesday. Standard Alliance Insurance drove the turnover with a total of 250 million shares worth N125 million traded in six deals.
Access Bank trailed with 72.21 million shares valued N333.71 million achieved in 236 deals, while GT Bank sold 15.29 million shares worth N365.81 million in 244 deals. FBN Holdings traded 12.27 million shares valued N83.16 million transacted in 358 deals, while UBA accounted for 11.56 million shares worth N45.70 million exchanged in 98 deals.