Nigerian Blue Chip stocks suffer heavy losses amid high profit-taking

Nigerian stocks closed the last trading session on a bearish note. The All Share Index plunged by 1.40% to close at 40,439.85 index points as against the 0.78% gain recorded yesterday. Its Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands at +0.42%.

Nigerian Stock Exchange market value now stands at N21.16 trillion.

• Nigerian bourse market turnover at Friday trading session printed negative as volume dipped by 68.96% as against +247.40% uptick recorded on Thursday. ZENITHBANK, TRANSCORP, and FBNH were the most active to boost market turnover.
• Among major sectoral indexes, the Industrial Goods sector emerged as the sole loser today on BUACEMENT and DANGCEM’s selloffs.
• On the flip side, the Banking (+0.52%), Consumer Goods (+0.28%), Oil and Gas (+0.14%), and Insurance (+0.04%) sectors closed higher.
• The market breadth closed positive as UAC-PROP led 31 Gainers as against 9 Losers topped by LIVESTOCK at the end of today’s session – an improved performance when compared with the previous outlook.

Top gainers

1. UAC-PROP up 9.59% to close at N0.8
2. LINKASSURE up 9.26% to close at N0.59
3. JAPAULGOLD up 9.23% to close at N0.71
4. UNITYBNK up 9.23% to close at N0.71
5. AFRINSURE up 9.09% to close at N0.24

Top losers

1. LIVESTOCK down 9.78% to close at N2.03
2. NEM down 9.69% to close at N2.05
3. BUACEMENT down 7.22% to close at N73.3
4. SOVRENINS down 7.14% to close at N0.26
5. DANGCEM down 3.51% to close at N220

Outlook

The Nigerian All Share Index reverted into the negative territory, losing 1.40% in the week’s final session. The index’s pullback was at cement makers’ helms – DANGCEM (-3.51%) and BUACEMENT (-7.22%).

Nairametrics envisages cautious buying amid renewed profit-making seen across the market spectrum.