Stocks Halt Four-Day Winning Streak as Dangote Cement Leads Losers

Stocks fell on Friday for the first time in five trading sessions as Dangote Cement, the second-most valuable company on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), emerged as the biggest loser.

Dangote Cement, the country’s largest producer of the building material, released its first-quarter financial results, with its profit after tax rising 85.72 percent to N209.25 billion despite a decline in sales.

The benchmark index of the NGX dipped 0.3 percent to 105,752.61 basis points, while the market capitalisation shed N202.15 billion to close at N66.47 trillion.

Forty-one companies led by Ikeja Hotel and International Breweries recorded price increases compared with 15 fallers.