The equities market opened the week lower on Monday, as market capitalisation fell by N1.173 trillion or 1.26 per cent.

The decline was driven by profit-taking in major stocks, including Dangote Cement, Enamelware, Transcorp Power, AIICO Insurance and Guinea Insurance.

Market capitalisation closed at N92.328 trillion, compared with the opening value of N93.501 trillion. The All-Share Index dipped by 1,853.82 points or 0.26 per cent, ending at 145,159.77, down from 147,013.59 on Friday.

Market breadth, however, closed positive, recording 28 gainers against 24 losers.

Sovereign Trust Insurance led the gainers by 9.97 per cent, closing at N3.20, while NCR Nigeria followed with a 9.96 per cent rise to N28.15. Tantalizer gained 9.81 per cent to close at N2.35 per share, continuing its recent upward movement.

Prestige Assurance rose by 9.70 per cent to N1.47, while Eunisell Interlinked appreciated by 8.52 per cent to N79.

Dangote Cement and Enamelware led the losers by 10 per cent each, closing at N534.60 and N40.50 respectively. Transcorp Power shed 4.66 per cent to end at N43, while AIICO Insurance fell by 4.11 per cent to N3.50. Guinea Insurance declined by 3.97 per cent, closing the session at N1.21 per share.

Total turnover stood at 388.2 million shares worth N31.14 billion, traded in 28,492 deals. This was lower than Friday’s volume of 4.89 billion shares valued at N42.2 billion across 24,152 transactions.

Tantalizer recorded the highest volume with 57.12 million shares traded, while ARADEL posted the highest value at N21.50 billion.

(NAN)