By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian bourse moved lower on Tuesday on profit taking as its gaining streak halted with all-share index (ASI) down 0.42 percent to close at 35,043.44 basis points, while market capitaliation declined by N50.40 billion to close at N11.94 trillion.

Shares of heavyweight losers such as Nestle Nigeria Plc declined 110.9 points (pts), Guaranty Trust Bank Plc 70.12pts and Zenith Bank Plc 60.10pts accounted for most of the decline seen on the floor today, offsetting gains by the likes of brewers, Nigerian Breweries Plc, 48.5pts and Guinness Nigeria Plc 35.2pts.

With this trend, current market Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) returns stands at positive 1.11 percent, while the Month-to-Date (M-t-D) return stands at 10.39 percent.

Cordros market update say three (3) out of the five (5) NSE Sectoral indices appreciated. “The Insurance index topped the gainers’ list with a 1.11 percent increase, while the Industrial and Oil/Gas indices recorded respective gains of 0.65 percent and 0.32 percent,” the report added.

On the contrary, the Banking index had the highest drop of 2.34 percent, while the Consumer Goods index dipped slightly by 0.02 percent.

According to Cordros, at the close of business, market breadth returned to negative recording 25 gainers and 27 losers. Pioneer manufacturer in animal feeds in Nigeria, Livestock Feeds Plc merged top gainer with a gain of 0.14 kobo, while drugmaker, Fidson Healthcare Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of 0.17 kobo.

In terms of turnover, volume traded declined by 27.94 percent to 248.37 million shares, valued at N3.66 billion and traded in 4,939 deals.

“The profit-taking would be likely short-lived as today’s market breadth doesn’t suggest that the sell-offs were on panic,” the Cordros report affirmed.