NGX Skids by N83bn as Inflation Fears Grow
The Nigerian equities market ends the first trading session of the week on a negative note as selling pressure on some high capitalised stocks halted last week’s uptrend.
Investors’ fortune dipped more than N83 billion on Monday following the return of the bear to the stock market after a strong buying interest that resulted in N1.2 trillion capital gains last week.
In today’s trading session, profit-taking was witnessed in Lafarge WAPCO, MTN Nigeria and International Breweries shares, resulting in a 0.3% decline in the benchmark index.
Amidst heavy selloffs seen and a record increase in headline inflation according to National Bureau of Statistics data, the Nigerian Exchange ASI settled at 52,944.09 points.
Headline inflation rate inched upward to 16.38% in April, according to NBS from the 15.92% reading in March 2022. Accordingly, the month-to-date and year-to-date returns decreased to +6.7% and +23.9%, respectively.
Data from the equities report shows that the total volume of trades increased by 23.3% to 374.18 million units, valued at N4.96 billion, and exchanged in 6,854 deals, according to stockbrokers.
On the NGX chart, TRANSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 88.59 million units, while SEPLAT was the most traded stock by value at N1.41 billion.
Moving in a similar direction, sector performance was broadly negative. The consumer goods index declined by 0.7%, the Industrial Goods index dipped by 0.6%, and the banking index lost 0.2%, making three sectors that closed in the red.
Meanwhile, the Insurance jumped 2.5% and Oil & Gas gained 0.6% indices advanced. As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.3x), as 25 tickers gained relative to 20 losers. READ: Brent Sold for $112.60 as Russia-Ukraine War Stokes Fears
NNFM (+9.6%) and TRANSCORP (+8.5%) recorded the highest gains of the day, while CHAMPION (-9.8%) and GLAXOSMITH (-9.5%) topped the losers’ list. # NGX Skids by N83bn as Inflation Fears Grow
