Transactions on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed red on Friday to halt the three-consecutive days of gain due to profit taking.

Consequently, the market capitalisation dropped by N28 billion or 0.14 per cent to close at N20.409 trillion from N20.437 trillion reported on Wednesday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index depreciated by 53.82 points to 39,156.28 from 39,210.10 on Thursday.

A breakdown of the activity chart shows that NEM Insurance topped the losers’ chart in percentage terms, dropping by 10 per cent to close at N1.80 per share.

Champion Breweries also dipped 10 per cent to close at N1.80, while Royal Express was down by 9.33 per cent to close at 68k per share.

FTN Cocoa lost 8.33 per cent to close at 33k, while Learn Africa shed 8.26 per cent to N1 per share.

Conversely, Cutix led the gainers’ table in percentage terms, appreciating by 9.88 per cent to close at N2.78 per share.

Jaiz Bank followed with 9.26 per cent to close at 59k, while Mutual Benefits added 6.98 per cent to close at 46k per share.

Mansard gained 4.76 per cent to close at 88k, while Northern Nigerian Flour Mills was up by 4.24 per cent to close at N6.15 per share.

In spite of the drop in indices, the volume of shares traded rose by 82.53 per cent with an exchange of 289.08 million shares worth N3.55 billion in 3,719 deals.

This was against a total of 158.37 million shares valued N2.24 billion in 3,330 deals on Thursday.

Sterling Bank was the most active stock during the day, exchanging 32.09 million shares worth N50.58 million.

It was followed by Vitafoam with an account of 27.60 million shares valued at N331.06 million, while Zenith Bank sold 25.72 million shares worth N594.70 million.

Fidelity Bank sold 22.99 million shares valued at N51.88 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank exchanged 14.09 million shares worth N407.84 million. 

(NAN)