NGX Bumps as Investors Take Profit
After two bullish trading sessions, the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed marginally lower. This was caused by profit-taking activities in GEREGU, Zenith, and Flour Mills of Nigeria outweighed gains recorded by MTN Nigeria.
Due to bearish returns, equities investors lost about N5.2 billion, and key performance indicators spiraled downward.
As a result, the market index or All-Share Index (NGXASI) declined by one basis point, settling at 63,757.23 points compared to its previous session’s closing level of 63,766.72 points. Consequent to selloffs, the year-to-date return relatively strongly moderated to 24.40%.
During today’s trading session, there was a notable decrease in trade value, declining by -76.45% to reach NGN 10.08 billion. Furthermore, the trade volume witnessed a decline of -45.50%, with a total of 473.49 million units exchanged through 7,403 transactions.
Market activity for the day decreased as both volume and value traded declined by 45.50% and 76.45% to 473.49 million units and N10.08 billion, respectively.
The ratio of gainers to losers which measures investor sentiment, decreased to 0.89x from 2.50x in the prior session as 24 stocks appreciated, 27 stocks depreciated and 64 stocks closed flat.
GEREGU (-10.0%) and PRESTIGE (-10.0%) topped the losers’ list, while HONYFLOUR (+10.0%) and ETERNA (+10.0%) recorded the most significant gains of the day.
The day’s bearish performance was driven by notable declines in major stocks such as GEREGU (-10%), FLOURMILL (-3.23%), ZENITHBANK (-1.68%), ACCESSCORP (-0.60%), and FBNH (-0.56%), as well as 22 other stocks. UBA (-4.35%), TRANSCORP (-4.18%), (-1.68%), WAPCO (-1.03%).
On sectorial performance, the Oil & Gas (+0.6%), Insurance (+0.5%), and Consumer Goods (+0.5%) indices posted gains, while the Banking (-2.1%) and Industrial Goods (-0.1%) indices declined. Overall, the market capitalization declined by N5.17 billion to close at N34.716 trillion.
