Equities Investors Lose N293bn in Nigerian Stock Market
Equities investors lose N293 billion as selloffs persist on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), dragging year-to-date returns lower on Wednesday.
The Nigerian equities market closed bearish, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) down 0.18% to 251,861.24 points. Investors have been adjusting positions across the sectoral indexes.
Consequently, the market’s year-to-date (YTD) return moderated to 61.85%, while market capitalisation shed N193 billion to close at N163.53 trillion.
Market sentiment remained negative, with 22 stocks advancing against 29 decliners, giving a market breadth of 0.76x. UPL, CAVERTON, ABBEYBANK, CHAMPION and ETI led gains, while OKOMUOIL, ENAMELWA, NASCON, FTNCOCOA and VFDGROUP led losses.
Sectoral performance was predominantly bearish, with the Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods, and Commodity indices down 0.60%, 0.29%, 0.15%, and 0.55%, respectively.
Conversely, the Oil and Gas index rose marginally by 0.03%, while the Industrial Goods index remained unchanged.
Trading activity also weakened, with the number of deals, trading volume, and transaction value declining by 2.01%, 23.28%, and 24.88%, respectively.
Overall, investors executed 30,908 deals involving 418 million shares valued at ₦22.83 billion during the session.
Stockbrokers expect the Nigerian equities market to remain cautious in the near term, amid negative investor sentiment and broad-based sell-offs across key sectors.
However, bargain-hunting activities in fundamentally sound stocks could provide some support and moderate further losses, investment firm Cowry Asset Limited said in its investors’ note.
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