BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
Profit- taking by investors in the shares of telecom giant, MTN Nigeria on Thursday weighed on the performance of the All Share Index of the Nigerian Exchange Limited as market capitalization was unchanged at N25.96 trillion.
The Lagos bourse opened the new month mixed albeit with a bearish tilt as the benchmark index closed marginally lower by 0.01 percent to settle at 47,656.64 points. Nevertheless, the index remains on track for its third consecutive weekly gain.
The selloffs in Telco heavyweight, MTNN (-1.60%), offset gains in Tier-1 banking name like Zenith Bank Plc which appreciated by 3.88 percent and GTCO Plc which picked 1.50 percent on the gainers chart., Access Bank Holding Company Plc appreciated by 1.76 percent. Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return stood at 11.57 percent and market capitalization was unchanged at N25.96 trillion.
Analysis of the day’s market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 115.63 percent.
A total of 172.90 million shares valued at N2.84 billion were exchanged in 3,073 deals. FCMB shares recorded a loss of (-4.18%) on the losers volume chart, but it recorded 49.80 million units of volume in trading while MTNN which lost (-1.60%) led the value chart in deals worth N891.98 million.
Market breadth closed positive at a 1.22-to-1 ratio with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones. UPDCREIT (+9.09%) led ten (10) others on the leader’s table while HONYFLOUR (-7.89%) topped eight (8) others on the laggard’s log.
