NGX Loses N601bn as Investors Eye Fixed Income Market
The equities market lost more than N601 billion over the five days trading session on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange, according to data from the local bourse.
Last week, bearish run from the previous week overrun trading activities, dragging key performance indicators lower.
Stockbrokers hint that investors riding highs and lows in the equities market are pulling out funds into the fixed income segment following higher yields on naira assets.
The exit of funds hit back at the trading patterns in the Nigerian Exchange as the All-share index (NGX-ASI) dipped 2.1% week on week to 51,893.94 points.
The Benchmark index had crossed 55,000 points when it started trading at 2008 higher following the early boom seen in 2023. In a twist, the fixed income market has now turned to safe haven as investors seek to protect funds against inflation pressures.
In March, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that the consumer price index worsened to 22.04%, from 21.91% in the previous month.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange showed that the equities segment market capitalisation declined ₦601.3 billion to ₦28.2 trillion.
At the close of the trading session on Friday, the stock market’s year-to-date return moderated to 1.3%, a strong decline from 3.4% registered in the previous week.
Across the sectors this week, performance was largely on a bear trend across the indices, except for the Consumer Goods index which appreciated by 0.05% week on week.
Market data showed that the Banking index dipped by 1.40%, a similar rate of decline seen in the Insurance segment (-1.40%) – making the financial service stocks emerge as the decliners this week as a result of sell-pressure.
Also, the Industrial Goods sector dropped by 0.40%.
Stockbrokers said trading activities were negative as the total number of deals plunged further last week by 2.91% week on week to 15,685 as market players recorded higher traded volumes.
Trade volume spiked by 167.99% to 2.82 billion units which were valued at N8.94 billion, representing a decrease by 11.05% week on week.
Meanwhile, the top gaining securities for the week were TRANSCORP (+23%), INTBREW (+11%), and NAHCO (+8%), while the week’s losers were NEIMETH (-10%), MAYBAKER (-10%), and AIRTELAFRI (-10%). #NGX Loses N601bn as Investors Eye Fixed Income Market
