Nigerian stocks fell 1.3 percent on Friday, hit by profit-taking actions in a pair of banking and telecom stocks that sent the stocks’ second-biggest fall of the year.
Strong sell orders in Airtel Africa, the most capitalized stock on the exchange, and zenith bank as well as Fidelity Bank launched the slide in a trading session where volume jumped 37 percent and turnover 5 percent.
NGX 30, the index that tracks the top 50 companies listed in terms of liquidity and market capitalization, also fell 0.1 percent on selling pressure on Airtel Africa.
Market breadth, which measures investor sentiment towards trading, closed negative as there were 18 declines versus 13 gains.
The all-stock index fell 715.7 basis points to 49,629.4, while market capitalization fell to 29.3 trillion naira.
Nigerian stocks are up 5 percent so far this year.
TOP FIVE WINNERS
Tripple Gee topped the winners list, appreciating 9.9 per cent to close at N1.99. Wapic added 9.8 percent to finish the trade at N0.45. Living Trust advanced 6 per cent to N2.30. UPDC moved up to N1, up 4.2 percent. Lasaco rounded out the top 5, climbing by 4.1 to N1.02.
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Pharma Deko led the laggards, declining by 10 to close at N1.9 while RT Briscoe lost 6.7 per cent to end trade at N0.28. Airtel Africa fell to N1,560, losing 6.02 per cent. Fidelity Bank plunged to N4.76, posting a depreciation of 5.4 percent. FCMB closed at N4.28, down 3.8 percent.
THE FIVE MAIN OPERATIONS
A total of 172.9 million shares valued at 3.8 billion naira were traded in 3,077 trades. FBN Holdings was the most active stock with 47.4 million units of its shares worth N561.2 million exchanging hands in 98 deals. Zenith Bank traded 16.9 million shares at a price of N427 million in 253 transactions. Access Holdings had 13.6 million shares valued at N125.7 million traded in 148 deals. Fidelity Bank traded 10.5 million shares estimated at N12.7 million in 89 transactions. Transcorp traded 10.5 million shares valued at N12.7 million in 89 deals.