Profit-taking Drags Stock Market Cap below N20 Trillion
Sustained profit-taking drags stock market capitalisation below N20 trillion amidst the ongoing blood bath on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) following a 5 basis points slide in inflation reading for April.
At the close of trade, the All-Share Index fell 30 basis points (bps) to close at 38,328.13 points following sell pressures in DANGCEM (-1.9%), STERLING (-7.7%), and ACCESS (-1.2%).
In the last two trading sessions in the local bourse, investors’ fortune had plunged by a total sum of N449 billion as the market rout persists.
On Thursday, stocks plunged N61 billion as year to date loss worsened to -4.8% as stock market capitalisation printed at N19.969 trillion.
However, trading activity was mixed as volume traded rose 2.4% to 157.3 million units while value traded decreased by 28.9% to ₦1.7 billion.
The most traded stocks by volume today were ZENITH (27.6 million units), ACCESS (19.6 million units), and FBNH (13.5 million units).
Leading the value chart were ZENITH whose transaction volume was valued at ₦634.2 million, GUARANTY ₦352.3 million and ACCESS ₦161.8 million.
Mixed Sector Performance
Afrinvest said performance across sectors under its coverage universe was mixed as 3 indicators gained, 2 lost while the AFR-ICT index closed flat.
The Consumer Goods index led gainers, up 0.4% due to buying interest in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+2.2%) and INTBREW (+0.9%).
In the same vein, the Insurance and Oil & Gas indices rose 0.3% and 0.1% respectively on the back of price appreciation in AIICO (+3.2%), PRESTIGE (+6.5%), and OANDO (+0.7%).
Conversely, the Industrial Goods and Banking indices lost 0.9% and 0.1% respectively as investors exited positions in DANGCEM (-1.9%), STERLING (-7.7%), and ACCESS (-1.2%).
Investor Sentiment Unchanged
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth was unchanged at 0.9x as 18 stocks advanced while 19 declined. TRANSEXPR (+9.9%), PRESTIGE (+6.5%) and CHAMS (+4.8%) led gainers while SUNUASSUR (-9.6%), ROYALEX (-9.3%) and REGALINS (-8.1%) led decliners.
“We expect the bearish sentiment to be sustained in the absence of any positive catalyst”, Afrinvest said in a market report.
Profit-taking Drags Stock Market Cap below N20 Trillion
