NGX Loses N36bn as Investors Offload Financial Stocks
The equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed the trading session lower on Tuesday as investors offloaded financial stocks. Stockbrokers said major lenders such as GTCO (-3.88%), UBA (-1.23%), and ACCESSCORP (-0.55%) recorded further losses in their share prices.
Similarly, the insurance index saw a decline led by PRESTIGE (-7.32%), LINKASSURE (-6.82%), MANSARD (-4.76%), LASACO (-3.92%), and AIICO (-1.67%). Thus, the All-Share Index declined by 0.1% to 55,722.90 points.
Following the selloffs, the stock market’s month-to-date and year-to-date returns settled at -0.2% and +8.7%, respectively. Consequently, the equity capitalisation which opened at N30.391 trillion, lost N36 billion to close at N30.355 trillion, representing a decline of 0.12 per cent.
Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 65.47 points or 0.12 per cent to close at 55,722.9 as against 55,788.37 recorded on Monday. Enamewa led the gainers’ list with a 9.57 per cent increase as it grew from N16.20 to close at N17.75 per share.
FTN Cocoa rose by 7.69 per cent to close at 28k from 26k, while Sterling Bank inched up by 3.42 per cent from N1.46 to close at N1.51, per share. UAC Nigeria grew by 3.26 per cent to close at N9.50 when compared with N9.20 per share with which it opened for the day.
Also, NGX Group rose by 2.69 per cent from N26 to close at N26.70, per share. On the other hand, Chams led the losers’ table after losing eight per cent, from 25k at which it opened to close at 23k, per share.
Prestige Assurance fell by 7.32 per cent to close at 38k from 41k, while Linkage Assurance dropped by 6.82 per cent to end trading with 41k from 44k, per share. UPDC depreciated by 6.8 per cent closing at 96k as against N1.03, while Wema Bank lost by 6.05, dropping from N4.30 to N4.04 per share.
Investors traded 199.26 million shares valued at N2.81 billion in 3,898 deals on Tuesday, compared with 179.02 million shares worth N2.54 billion traded in 4,296 deals the previous day.
Sterling Bank was the most trading stock, with 31.09 million shares amounting to N46.91 million. Neimeth sold 20.17 million shares worth N31.67 million, while Zenith Bank traded 16.51 million shares worth N412.51 million.
Sectoral performance was broadly negative, as the Insurance (-1.9%), Banking (-0.2%), and Industrial Goods (-0.1%) indices printed losses, while the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices closed flat. #NGX Loses N36bn as Investors Offload Financial Stocks
