Trading on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) ended the week in negative territory on Friday, with investors recording a loss of N64 billion amid declines in 21 equities.
‎‎The downturn was largely attributed to profit-taking in Multiverse Mining, Livingtrust Mortgage Bank, Etranzact, Haldane McCall and Sovereign Trust Insurance, as well as 16 other stocks.
‎The market capitalisation dropped by N64 billion, representing a 0.04 per cent decline, from N164.859 trillion at the opening to N164.795 trillion at the close of trading.
‎Similarly, the All-Share Index shed 97.64 points to settle at 252,269.16, down from 252,366.80 recorded at the beginning of the session.
‎‎The decline also reduced the market’s year-to-date return to 62.11 per cent.
‎‎Despite the overall decline, market breadth remained positive, with 22 equities advancing against 21 decliners.
‎‎Caverton Offshore Support Group emerged as the day’s biggest gainer, rising by 10 per cent to close at N4.40 per share.
‎‎Fortis Global Insurance followed with a 9.93 per cent increase to N1.66, while Austinlaz appreciated by 9.91 per cent to N2.44 per share.
‎‎Lasaco Assurance gained 9.20 per cent to close at N1.90, while Veritas Kapital Assurance advanced by nine per cent to N1.09 per share.
‎On the losing side, Multiverse Mining recorded the highest decline, shedding 9.90 per cent to close at N17.30 per share.
‎‎Livingtrust Mortgage Bank fell by 9.69 per cent to N2.33, while Etranzact declined by 8.11 per cent to N17 per share.
‎‎Haldane McCall also lost 4.58 per cent to close at N3.33, while Sovereign Trust Insurance dropped by 3.52 per cent to N2.19 per share.
‎‎Meanwhile, trading activity increased, with investors exchanging 3.70 billion shares in 27,205 transactions valued at N23.11 billion, representing a 26.86 per cent rise in trading volume.
‎‎Linkage Assurance accounted for the highest volume, recording 3.10 billion shares, representing 83.90 per cent of the total shares traded.
‎‎First Holdco led transactions by value, with shares worth N7.33 billion exchanged, accounting for 31.71 per cent of the market’s total transaction value.
‎‎(NAN)
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