Sentiments in the domestic bourse turned negative on Thursday with a loss of N46 billion due to profit-taking activities in top cement player – Dangote Cement.

Specifically, the market capitalisation shed N46 billion or 0.21 per cent to close at N22.056 trillion from N22.102 trillion posted on Wednesday.

Also, the All-Share Index lost 87.13 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 42,270.23 in contrast with 42,357.36 posted on Wednesday.

Consequently, the month-to-date loss increased to 2.3 per cent, while the year-to-date gain moderated to 5.0 per cent.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, CAP, Lafarge Africa, Livestock Feeds and NASCON Allied Industries (NASCON).

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said “In the final trading session, we anticipate a mildly bullish close, supported by bargain buying.”

Market breadth market closed negative with 20 losers in contrast with 15 gainers.

Livestock Feeds led the losers’ chart in percentage terms by 10 per cent to close at N1.80 per share.

UPDC followed with 8.33 per cent to close at N1.10, while CAP shed 5.70 per cent to close at N18.20 per share.

Sovereign Trust Insurance declined by 4.17 per cent to close at 23k, while Mutual Benefits Assurance shed four per cent to close at 24k per share.

On the other hand, Royal Exchange led the gainers’ chart in percentage terms with five per cent to close at 63k per share.

Chams followed with 4.76 per cent to close at 22k, while Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup) went up by 3.92 per cent to close at N18.55 per share.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated improved by 3.26 per cent to close at N9.50, while Transcorp appreciated by 3.16 per cent to close at 98k per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume of trades rose by 10.3 per cent to 249.43 million units valued at N3.57 billion exchanged in 3,578 deals.

This was against a turnover of 226.18 million shares worth N2.63 billion achieved in 3,476 deals on Wednesday.

Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings topped the activity chart with 79.140 million shares valued at N955.87 million.

Access Bank followed with 33.26 million shares worth N299.45 million, while ETI traded 23.18 million shares valued at N218.35 million.

United Bank for Africa sold 12.96 million shares worth N100.79 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 9.62 million shares valued at N238.42 million.

Meanwhile, the Airtel Africa announced the introduction of Chimera Investment LLC as an additional investor in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV, the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations.

Chimera Investment LLC’s minority equity stake in AMC BV follows a 50 million dollars secondary market purchase of shares from a subsidiary of Airtel Africa Plc, while Airtel Africa continues to hold the majority stake in AMC BV.