Renewed profit-taking by investors at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) pulled market capitalisation by N10 billion, as investors leveraged the few days of capital appreciation to recoup their investment.

Specifically, at the close of transactions yesterday, the All Share Index (ASI) shed 28.19 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.08 per cent to close at 33,167.88 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N10 billion at N12.109 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Seplat Petroleum Development Company, FBN Holdings, Zenith Bank, Lafarge Africa, and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI).Analysts at Afrinvest Limited, said: “While we continue to maintain a near term bearish outlook on the equities market, we anticipate a soft rebound in tomorrow’s trading session.”

Also, analysts at APT Securities and Funds Limited, said: “The NSE-ASI recorded the third down day in 10 consecutive trading sessions, indicating the bourse’s dominance around the North Pole. We, thus, expect more bargain hunting during the course of the trading week under review.”

Market breadth closed negative with 17 gainers against 24 losers. Presco recorded the highest price gain of 9.43 per cent, to close at N58 per share. Stanbic IBTC followed with a gain of 7.14 per cent to close at N52.50 per share.

Diamond Bank rose by 6.92 per cent to close at N1.39 per share. Livestock Feeds appreciated by 5.77 per cent to close at 55 kobo, while Cadbury Nigeria went up by 5.26 per cent to close at N10 per share.

On the other hand, DN Meyer led the losers’ chart by 9.68 per cent, to close at 56 kobo per share. Dangote Flour followed with a decline 9.52 per cent to close at N6.65, while Regency Alliance Insurance depreciated 9.09 per cent to close at 20 kobo per share.FBN Holdings declined by 8.33 per cent to close at N8.25, while Lasaco Assurance was down by 6.25 per cent to close at 30 kobo per share.

Investors traded a total share volume of 309.16 million valued at N5.99 billion in 3,418 deals. Guaranty Trust Bank traded 57.63 million shares valued at N2.19 billion. Sterling Bank followed with 57.04 million shares worth N88.33 million, while FCMB Groups traded 41.1 million shares valued at N63.68 million.Custodian Investment traded 25.93 million shares valued at N129.66 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 12.17 million shares worth N106.47 million.