Equities Market Opens Negative as Investors Lost N91.4 Billion
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX), the equities market opens on a negative note on Monday as investors lost N91.4 billion following a 0.4% decline in the All-share index.
Specifically, benchmark index fell by 44 basis points (bps) to close at 39,306.47 points following sell-offs in MTNN (-1.1%), BUACEMENT (-1.2%) and GUARANTY (-1.7%).
The development hit market performance as year to date loss worsened to -2.4% while market capitalisation fell to ₦20.5 trillion.
Market data showed that trading activity improved as volume and value traded rose 62.9% and 2.5% respectively to 357.7 million units and ₦3.4 billion.
The most traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (52.7 million units), FBNH (42.5 million units) and NEM (39.5 million units).
ZENITH closed transaction valued at ₦1.2 billion, DANGSUGAR did ₦368.8 million, and MTNN sold shares worth ₦313.9 million to lead by value.
Bearish Sector Performance
Afrinvest said in its report that performance was bearish across sectors under its coverage as 5 out of 6 indicators lost.
The Industrial Goods index led the losers, down 0.7% due to profit taking in BUACEMENT (-1.2%) and WAPCO (-2.4%).
Similarly, the Banking and AFR-ICT indices declined 0.6% and 0.5% respectively following sell-offs in STANBIC (-2.2%), GUARANTY (-1.7%) and MTNN (-1.1%).
In the same vein, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices fell 0.3% and 7bps respectively on the back of price depreciation in MANSARD (-3.3%), DANGSUGAR (-0.8%), and GUINNESS (-1.7%).
On the flip side, the Oil & Gas index rose by 0.2% as a result of buying interest in ETERNA (+9.8%) and OANDO (+0.3%).
Investor Sentiment Strengthens
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth, strengthened to 1.6x from the 1.2x recorded in the previous session as 22 stocks advanced while 14 declined.
ETERNA (+9.8%), ROYALEX (+9.2%), and CAPHOTEL (+9.1%) led gainers while ENAMELWA (-9.8%), AFRIPRUD (-6.9%), and NPFMCRFBK (-6.4%) led decliners.
“In the coming trading session, we expect the sell pressure on the domestic stock market to mildly reduce”, Afrinvest stated.
Equities Market Opens Negative as Investors Lost N91.4 Billion
