Profit taking: NSE All-Share down by 1.63%

Activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday closed on a negative trend due to profit taking as investors adjusted their positions with the implementation of the new forex regime. The All-Share Index lost 477.37 points or 1.63 points to close at 28,769.90 compared with 29,247.27 achieved on Friday.
Similarly, the market capitalisation, which opened at N10.044 trillion, shed N163 billion or 1.63 per cent to close at N9.881 trillion. Mr Ambrose Omordion, Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Consulting Ltd., attributed the development to profit taking embarked upon by some investors. Omordion told NAN in Lagos that the market would likely experience mixed performance due to short-term profit taking by investors to take advantage of gains posted in the last few days.
Major blue chip recorded price depreciation with Nigerian Breweries leading the losers’ pack, dropping by N7.44 to close at N141.42 per share. Guinness trailed with a loss of N4.10 to close at N99.90, while Dangote Cement lost N3.82 to close at N179.99 per share. PZ industries declined by N1.09 to close at N21.11, while Ecobank Transnational shed 85k to close at N16.15 per share.
Conversely, Nestle led the gainers’ table, growing by N37.85 to close at 794.88 per share.
Total followed with a gain of N3.99 to close at N177 and Forte Oil appreciated by N2 to close at N200 per share. Glaxosmithkline grew by 78k to close at N15 while international Breweries surged by 56k to close at N19.99 per share. FBN Holdings emerged the most traded stock with a total of 88.30 million shares worth N382.737 million.
United Bank for Africa came second with 59.49 million shares valued at N286.90 million and Diamond Bank traded 55.28 million shares worth N122.03 million.
Transcorp sold 44.07 million shares valued at N69.27 million and Access Bank traded 34.01 million shares worth N203.07 million. Also, the volume of shares traded closed lower with an exchange of 416.66 million shares valued at N2.25 billion in 4,684 deals.
This was against the 628.75 million shares worth N6.79 billion exchanged in 5,965 deals on Friday.