Stock market sustains profit taking, as investors lose N2.4trn

By Peter Egwuatu

The Nigerian stock market has sustained profit taking for second consecutive weeks, as investors lost over N2.4 trillion to price declines.

The investors had lost over N5.6 trillion the previous week following massive selloff in high and mid capitalised stocks.

Market analysts are of the view that the negative close reflects the market’s current phase of consolidation following an impressive rally that has seen the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, deliver one of the strongest performances among global frontier and emerging markets this year. With many stocks still trading around multi-month highs, investors have continued to lock in gains while awaiting fresh catalysts from half-year corporate, earnings, dividend expectations and macroeconomic developments.

Analysis of trading Week-on-Week, WoW, shows that the market capitalisation, which represents the total value of shares listed on the Exchange close at N148.905 trillion from N148.905 trillion the previous week