The sum of N71 billion was lost by the Nigerian stock market last week. There are only 12 trading days left before the commencement of the Christmas and New Year holidays and in preparation, investors have begun to take profit to play safe.
In the previous week, which ended on November 29, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) appreciated by a marginal 0.04 percent, but last week, which closed on December 6, the market went down by 0.54 percent.
This brought the All-Share Index (ASI) down 146.63 points to 26,855.52 points from 27,002.15 points and the market capitalisation down by N71 billion to N12.962 trillion from N13.033 trillion.
According to findings a total of 35 stocks depreciated in price during the week, higher than 32 equities in the previous week, while 19 shares appreciated in price, lower 31 equities in the previous week, with 111 stocks closing unchanged, higher than 102 equities recorded in the preceding week.
Cornerstone Insurance was the worst performing stock, losing 20.25 percent to close at 63 kobo per share. MedView Airline lost 10.00 percent to close at N1.62 per unit, Arbico fell by 9.81 percent to settle at N4.32 per share, Ikeja Hotel declined by 9.73 percent to finish at N1.02 per unit, while FCMB depreciated by 9.45 percent to end at N1.82 per share.
On the other hand, Royal Exchange was the best performing stock on the NSE last week, rising by 17.39 percent to finish at 27 kobo per share.
Unilever Nigeria gained 17.39 percent to close at N18.90 per share, Trans-National Express rose by 10.00 percent to end at 99 kobo per unit, Niger Insurance improved also by 10.00 percent to settle 22 kobo per unit, while Okomu Oil rose by 9.77 percent to end at N54.50 per share.
In the week, the NSE recorded a total turnover of 952.7 million shares worth N12.8 billion in 17,279 deals compared with 1.2 billion shares valued at N13.2 billion traded a week earlier in 18,142 deals.
The financial services industry led the activity chart by volume with 691.0 million shares valued at N6.8 billion traded in 10,718 deals, contributing 72.53 percent and 53.13 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
It was followed by the conglomerates sector with 101.9 million shares worth N701.3 million in 974 deals and the consumer goods industry with 57.6 million shares worth N2.0 billion in 2,095 deals.
A further breakdown showed that FCMB, Access Bank and Zenith Bank accounted for 334.2 million shares worth N3.1 billion in 3,684 deals, contributing 35.08 percent and 24.39 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
