Dangote Sugar soars as Stock Market suffers N135bn Capitalisation loss

By Taiye Olayemi

The Nigerian stock market ended lower on Wednesday as profit taking in medium- and large-cap stocks dragged key indices by 0.15 per cent, despite strong gains in a handful of counters.

Dangote Sugar led the chart of gainers at the stock market, rising 10 per cent to close at N59.40, followed by Mecure Industries, which appreciated 9.95 per cent to N23.75.

Cornerstone Insurance and Secure Electronic Technology advanced 8 per cent each, settling at N6.48 and 81k per share, while UPDC gained 5 per cent to finish at N7.35.

However, losses across several major stocks outweighed the rally. Deap Capital Management plunged 9.42 per cent to N1.73, Legend Internet shed 9.26 per cent to N4.90, WAPIC Insurance fell 8.75 per cent to N2.92, RT Briscoe dropped 8.16 per cent to N3.60, while May & Baker declined 7.14 per cent to N16.25.

The sell pressure at the stock market left the market breadth in negative territory, with 29 losers against 23 gainers. Overall, the All-Share Index (ASI) slipped by 213.50 points to 140,716.10, while market capitalisation fell by N135 billion to close at N89.063 trillion from Tuesday’s N89.198 trillion.

Trading activity was also weaker, with investors exchanging 442.6 million shares worth N16.9 billion in 21,684 deals. This represented a decline from the previous day’s 759.1 million units valued at N25.7 billion across 23,657 deals.

Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 68.9 million shares valued at N4.8 billion. Access Corporation followed with 47.3 million shares worth N1.2 billion, while FirstHoldCo, Fidelity Bank, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company recorded significant trades of 46.1 million, 42.3 million, and 22.9 million shares respectively.