Measly gains cumulatively garnered by bank stocks like Zenith, Access Holdings, Zenith and FBN Holdings were eroded by dips in the shares of newly-listed Geregu Power and Oando.

Nigerian stocks were generally stagnant on Monday with the benchmark index stuck to the same position at which it closed trade on Friday, recording no movement.

Measly gains cumulatively garnered by bank stocks like Zenith, Access Holdings, Zenith and FBN Holdings were eroded by dips in the shares of newly-listed Geregu Power and Oando.

Profit-taking in Fem Otedola-backed Geregu caused firm to shed 3.4 per cent, the stock having come close to its all-time high at the previous session, while Oando, which is listed in Johannesburg as in Lagos, crumbled to its year-to-date low.

Transaction volume crumbled by 71 per cent when compared to Friday's, while turnover fell 52 per cent.

"Despite the rebound recorded last week, we retain a near-term expectation of persistent sell pressure in the Nigerian equities market and thus recommend the market is only good for investors with patient capital," said analysts at investment bank and brokerage firm United Capital in their outlook note for the week seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

"We advise speculators to trade with caution," they added.

A negative market breadth was recorded as 18 losers emerged against 11 gainers. The rest 77 participating stocks saw no price movement.

The all-share index edged up by 0.25 point to 41,249.71, while market capitalisation stood at N24.1 trillion.

Year to date, the index is up by 3.6 per cent.

TOP FIVE GAINERS

Royal Exchange led gainers, growing by 9.7 per cent to close at N0.79. Cutix gained 6.8 per cent to close at N2.19. UCAP rose by 5.7 per cent to N12. Linkage Assurance leapt to N0.40, notching up 5.6 per cent in the process. Transnationwide Express completed the top 5, climbing up by 2.5 per cent to N0.82.

TOP FIVE LOSERS

Learn Africa topped losers, declining by 9.5 per cent to close at N1.52. RT Briscoe shrank by 9 per cent to end the day at N0.30. Cornerstone Insurance dropped to N0.40, losing 9 per cent. FTN Cocoa dipped to N0.31, recording 9 per cent loss. Caverton closed at N0.80, going down by 8 per cent.

TOP 5 TRADES

In all, 103.3 million shares worth N2.1 billion were traded in 3,206 deals.

Zenith was the most preferred stock, trading 15.1 million shares worth N301.4 million in 261 deals. Geregu traded 11.1 million units estimated at N1.2 billion in 28 transactions. GTCO had 8.9 million shares valued at N156 million traded in 428 deals. FBN Holdings traded 7.4 million shares estimated at N73.7 million in 103 transactions. Access Holdings traded 5.8 million shares valued at N46.6 million in 167 deals.

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