Nigerian Bourse Sheds Weight in Q1
The equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) shed weight in the first quarter amidst seesaw price movements in the local bourse. The market boomed before negative price movements drag the exchange lower.
Data from the local bourse showed that the Nigerian Exchange All-share index declined 2.3% month on month to 54,232.34 points. Consequently, year-to-date return slid to 7.0% from 8.9% while market capitalisation dipped ₦857 billion to ₦29.5 trillion.
Meanwhile, the activity level in the local bourse was mixed as the average volume traded gained 2.15% month on month to 311.3 million units while the average value traded declined 22.4% to ₦3.2 billion.
TRANSCORP (667.2 million units), UBA (410.6 million units), and COURTVILLE (327.4 million units) were the top traded stocks by volume for the month while GTCO (₦7.4 billion), MTNN (₦4.9 billion), and UBA (₦3.3 billion) led by value.
Investment banking firm, Afrinvest Limited, said in a report that across sectors under its coverage, performance was bearish as 5 indices lost while 1 gained.
Due to uncertainties in the segment, the Oil & Gas index shed 9.7% month on month to lead the laggards, no thanks to sell pressure on CONOIL (-18.9%), SEPLAT (-13.2%), and ETERNA (-3.5%). Oando however gained after major shareholders announced a takeover offer.
Trailing, the AFR-ICT & Banking indices fell 5.7% and 3.0% m/m respectively following price depreciation in NCR (-34.6%), AIRTELAF (-8.7%), ETI (-13.5%), and FCMB (-7.0%).
Likewise, the Industrial Goods and Insurance indices dipped 2.4% and 1.1% m/m respectively on account of sell-off in CAP (-11.2%), PRESTIGE (-11.1%), and SOVRENINS (-6.7%).
Conversely, the Consumer Goods index emerged as the sole gainer for the month, up 4.4% on the back of buying interest in CHAMPION (+16.1%), NASCON (+14.3%), and BUAFOODS (+13.3%).
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, weakened to -0.3x from 0.2x recorded the prior month as 33 stocks gained, 55 lost while 64 were unchanged.
The top outperforming stocks for the month were SUNUASSURE (+40.5%), OANDO (+18.8%), and GEREGU (+17.2%) while NCR (-34.6%), CONOIL (-18.9%), and MULTIVERSE (-18.2%) were the underperforming stocks for the month.#Nigerian Bourse Sheds Weight in Q1
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