The Nigerian stock market closed the week bearish on Friday, as performance indices fell by 0.46 per cent. This marked the third consecutive negative session of the week.
The downturn was driven by sustained profit-taking in stocks including International Energy Insurance, Lasaco Assurance, Linkage Assurance, Nem Insurance, Meyer and 34 other companies.
Market capitalisation fell by N425 billion or 0.46 per cent, closing at N91.501 trillion from N91.926 trillion recorded on Thursday.
Similarly, the All-Share Index dropped by 0.46 per cent or 671.81 points, closing at 144,628.20 from 145,300.01 in the previous session.
The market breadth also closed negative with 39 losers compared to 30 gainers.
Lasaco Assurance led the losers’ chart, dropping 10 per cent to N4.05, while International Energy Insurance also fell 10 per cent to N3.33 per share.
Linkage Assurance declined by 10 per cent to N2.43, while Nem Insurance dipped by 9.97 per cent to N32.50 per share.
Meyer fell by 9.95 per cent, closing at N16.75 per share.
On the gainers’ chart, Mutual Benefits rose 10 per cent to N3.85, while Ikeja Hotel gained 9.95 per cent, closing at N22.65 per share.
Wema Bank appreciated by 9.90 per cent to N22.75, while Deap Capital Management advanced by 9.52 per cent to N1.61 per share.
Tripple Gee rose by 8.32 per cent, closing at N5.60 per share.
A total of 1.37 billion shares worth N13.9 billion were traded across 32,065 deals.
This compared with 2.46 billion shares valued at N22.22 billion exchanged in 43,515 deals on Thursday.
Universal Insurance recorded the highest volume, trading 308.8 million shares worth N371.1 million.
AIICO Insurance followed with 117.99 million shares valued at N470.66 million, while Mutual Benefits sold 102.42 million shares worth N390.9 million.
Veritas Kapital Assurance traded 70.42 million shares worth N160.03 million, while Sovereign Trust Insurance sold 62.15 million shares valued at N182.3 million.