Equities Market Slumps as Investors Book Profits
The equities market ended the week weak due to price movement in some bellwether stocks. This dragged market performance lower generally, though some stockbrokers had predicted a rebound in activities. Still, the bearish grip appeared much stronger than anticipated by stock traders in the domestic bourse this week, a development triggered by weak sentiments.
With Nigeria’s double-digit headline inflation rate, the equities market remains the best to put money into; having scored about 30% year-to-date return. Stocks with higher beta are expected to outperform the current returns, stockbrokers said.
The market ended bearish despite notable gains in AIRTELAFRI and the major banking stocks, market analysts at Futureview Financial Services said in an update. Investor sentiment tilted towards profit-taking, particularly in the large and mid-cap segments, exerting downward pressure on the Nigerian Exchange All-share index.
Trading results showed that the NGX All share index closed the week at 66,454.57 points, marking a decline of 17 basis points from the previous session’s closing level of 66,570.19 points.
The stock market downturn was caused by selling pressure in notable stocks, including OANDO -9.55%, DANGCEM -8.79%, FCMB -1.34%, NB -1.28%, STERLINGNG -1.13%, TRANSCORP -0.50%, WAPCO -0.34%, UCAP -0.29%, and other listed stocks.
OMATEK, AIRTELAFRI, and CAVERTON witnessed value gains of 10.00%, 8.53%, and 5.84%, respectively. On the other hand, OANDO, SCOA, and NEM posted declines of -9.55%, -9.52%, and -9.09%, respectively
Consequently, the year-to-date return settled at 29.66%. The market capitalisation also contracted by 0.17%, closing at N36.51 trillion, resulting in a decrease of N16.99 billion in investors’ aggregate wealth. Trading activities for the day varied as volume traded declined by 63.12% to 374.09 million units, while value traded increased by 88.75% to N8.93 billion.
The market breadth, which measures investor sentiment through the Gainers/Losers ratio, decreased to 0.80x from 1.26x, as 20 stocks appreciated, 25 stocks depreciated and 72 stocks closed flat. During today’s trading session, the NGX All Share Index experienced a downturn, registering a 0.17% loss, ultimately closing at 66,454.57 points.
The total trade value recorded a massive growth of 88.79%, closing the session at N8.93 billion. In contrast, the trade volume realized a noticeable decline of -63.12%, with a total of 374.09 billion units traded through 6,822 transactions. Overall, equities market capitalisation dropped by ₦16.99 billion, representing a decline of -0.05%, to close at ₦36.51 trillion from ₦36.53 trillion yesterday.
The disparity between the All-share index and market capitalisation was due to 190,027,365 ordinary shares of VFD Group Plc listed on the Main Board of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, Atlass Portfolios Limited told investors in a note. Naira Devaluation Deepens Economic Crisis in Nigeria
