Insurance, tech coys drag stock market down by N32bn

The Nigerian stock market closed Thursday’s trading session bearish, shedding N32 billion after recording gains in previous sessions.

The downturn was driven by profit-taking in insurance and technology stocks, as Eunisell Interlinked, BUA Cement, and other equities recorded declines.

Market capitalisation dipped by N32 billion, representing 0.02 per cent decline, to close at N156.207 trillion from N156.239 trillion recorded on Wednesday amid cautious investor sentiment.

The All-Share Index also declined by 221.14 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 242,145.61, compared with 242,366.75 posted in the previous trading session.

Despite the decline, the market’s year-to-date return remained positive at 55.61 per cent, while breadth stayed favourable with 27 gainers against 22 losers.

First Holding Company led gainers with 9.96 per cent, closing at N87.25, while Mc Nicholas rose 8 per cent to N5.40, and UBA gained 7.93 per cent.

Veritas Kapital increased 6.85 per cent to N1.56, and Jaiz Bank advanced 4.07 per cent to finish at N8.95 per share during the session.

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On the losers’ table, Eunisell Interlinked declined 10 per cent to N189, followed by BUA Cement which fell 9.99 per cent to N275.60 per share.

Chemical and Allied Products dropped 9.61 per cent to N142.45, Royal Exchange shed 9.55 per cent, while Guinea Insurance decreased 5.38 per cent to 88k per share.

Trading activity improved as total volume rose 4.64 per cent to 498.45 million shares worth N34.87 billion across 39,484 transactions during Thursday’s operations.

Ja Paul Gold dominated volume with 77.66 million shares traded, representing 15.58 per cent of the day’s total volume amid increased investor activity.

Seplat emerged as the most valuable stock with transactions worth N13.19 billion, accounting for 37.82 per cent of total value traded during Thursday’s session.