The All-Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday appreciated marginally by 0.03 per cent in spite of high volume of shares traded.
The index, which opened at 41,740.77, grew by 10.78 points or 0.03 per cent to close higher at 41,751.55.
Also, the market capitalisation rose by N3 billion to close at N13.364 trillion against N13.361 trillion achieved on Thursday.
Market analysts attributed the slowdown to profit taking embarked by some investors following the growth recorded by the market since the beginning of the year.
UACN led the price gainers’ chart, gaining by N1 to close at N70 per share. Flour Mill came second with a gain of 90k to close at N88.37 per share.
GT Bank and PZ Cussons appreciated by 43k each, to close at N28.50 and N38.15, respectively, while ETI garnered 41k to close at N17.40 per share.
On the other hand, Nestle topped the price losers’ chart, shedding N10 to close at N1,165 per share.
Forte Oil trailed with N3 to close at N83, while Julius Berger dropped N2.40 to close at N65.10 per share.
Oando lost N1.10 to close at N25.60, while Nigerian Breweries declined by 79k to close at N165.20 per share.
The volume of shares traded improved by 33.09 per cent with a total of 463.09 million shares worth N4.37 billion traded in 5,825 deals.
This was in contrast with turnover of 347.95 million shares valuedat N3.91 billion achieved in 6,462 deals on Thursday.
The financial services sector remained the most active as investors staked N2.41 billion on 314.49 million shares in 2,916 deals.
Transcorp emerged the most traded equity with a turnover of 70.20 million shares worth N286.54 billion in 348 deals.
It was followed by FCMB Group having accounted for 54.03 million shares valued at N216.12 million exchanged in 100 deals, while Africa Prudential sold 33.46 million worth N102.28 million in 154 deals.
UBA traded 32.07 million shares valued N288.61 million achieved in 248 deals, while Diamond accounted for 26.49 millions worth N210.55 million in 88 deals