Equities on the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. extended negative performance on Monday, as profit-taking activities was witnessed in some financial institution stocks.

Specifically, the market capitalisation lost N17 billion to close at N25.47 trillion from N25.48 trillion achieved on Friday

Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.07 per cent to close at 47,251.93 points from 47,282.67 points recorded on Friday.

The downturn was due to profit takings ecorded in financial institutions stocks which included Access Bank, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Company (GTCo) and United Bank for Africa (UBA), and other stocks – Transcorp and AIICO.

The market breadth closed negative as 15 stocks posted gains while 22 declined.

On the price movement chart, Guinness recorded the highest gain of 10 per cent to close at N71.50 per share.

Royal Exchange Assurance gained 8.33 per cent to close at N1.30 per share

Mutual Benefit Assurance followed, appreciating by eight per cent to close at 27k per share. Lasaco trailed with a gain of six per cent to close at N1.06 per share, while Livestock inched up by 5.62 per cent to close at N1.69 per share.

Conversely, RTBriscoe depreciated by 10 per cent to close at 72k per share.Berger also lost 9.64 per cent to close at N7.50 per share while Ikeja Hotel  dropped by 8.76 per cent to close at N1.65 per share.
Champion shed 8.07 per cent to close at N2.05 per share while UDPC was down by eight per cent to close at 92 per share.
The total volume traded declined by 64.4 per cent to 213.57 million units, valued N2.68 billion, and exchanged in 4,485 deals. 

Access Bank was the most traded stock by volume at 27.19 million units, while Zenith Bank was the most traded stock by value N534.68 million.

On sectors, the Banking stocks fell by nine per cent and Insurance by seven per cent while the Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices closed flat. The Consumer Goods gained 0.5 per cent.“As expected, the week started off with minimal activity level amid strong demand in the banking sector. We expect similar trade patterns tomorrow, barring any block transactions to elevate activity level,” said Vetiva Dealing and Brokerage. 
(NAN)