Today’s loss wipes out three days of gains

The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) lost N103 billion on Tuesday to reverse the gains of the last three days due to profit taking.

The market capitalisation, which opened at N9.569 trillion, dropped N103 billion or 1.08 per cent to close at N9.466 trillion.

Similarly, the All-Share Index lost 300.86 points or 1.08 per cent to close at 27,533.03 against 27,833.89 achieved on Monday.

Market analysts attributed the development to profit taking embarked by investors to take advantage of the gains recorded in the last three trading days.

Forte Oil topped the losers’ chart, dropping N12.75 to close at N235.90 per share.

Nigerian Breweries came second with N2.50 to close at N113, while Lafarge. Africa dipped by N1.99 to close at N90.01 per share.

7UP declined by N1.90 to close at N181.10, while Presco depreciated by N1.50 to close at N31 per share.

On the other hand, Mobil led the gainers’ table, gaining N8.30 to close at N132.41 per share.

Unilever followed with a gain of N3.50 to close at N45.50, while Guinness rose by N1.75 to close at N45.50 per share.

Total appreciated by N1.01 to close at N148.01, while Julius Berger grew by 45k to close at N37.81 per share.

The volume of shares traded closed higher with 485.04 million shares valued at N4.45 billion transacted in 2,785 deals.

This was against the 127.82 million shares worth N2.45 billion traded in 2,434 deals on Monday.

Multiverse drove the turnover, accounting for 146.15 million shares valued at N73.07 million exchanged in two deals.

Guinea Insurance followed with 127.13 million shares worth N63.54 million achieved in five deals, while UBA sold 27.54 million shares valued at N102.99 million in 173 deals.

Investors staked N513.64 million on 26.83 million shares of GTBank in 271 deals. While Unilever sold 26.83 million shares worth N1.09 billion in 38 deals.