By Yakubu LAAH Investadvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Profit taking on blue-chip stocks like lenders Access Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and brewer Guinness Nigeria Plc on Thursday halted the eight-day (8) bullish spree on the Nigerian bourse.

At the end of transactions, all share index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dipped 0.50 percent  to close at 30,045.46 points, while market capitalisation lost N50 billion to close at N10.03trillion.

”Before the retreat, the gaining streak saw the benchmark index grow by 8.90 percent to 30,195.56 points. Despite the decline, the benchmark index retained its positive Month-to-Date profile at 1.64 percent,” Cordros update affirmed.

With this loss, current Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) returns at the Nigerian equities market stands at a negative 13.31 percent.

According to the Cordros report, the Insurance index was the sole gainer amongst the five (5) NSE sectoral indices with a 1.66 percent appreciation.

On the contrary, the Banking index led the decliners with a 1.83 percent loss, the Industrial index followed with a 0.37 percent decline, while the Oil/Gas and Consumer Goods indices depreciated 0.28 percent and 0.10 percent respectively.

At the end of the session, market breadth at the Nigerian bourse maintained a neutral posture recording 22 gainers and losers respectively. UAC of Nigeria Plc (UACN), leading diversified company, operating in the food and beverages, real estate, paint and logistics sectors led the gainers chart with a gain of N2.65, while Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc emerged top losers with a loss of N3.29.

In terms of turnover, volume traded declined by 13.02 percent to 321.66 million shares valued at N4.65 billion and traded in 4,185 deals.

“We expect the bearish trading tomorrow as short term players carry on to profit taking activities,” the Cordros update affirmed.