NGX Slumps, Return Still Beats Inflation Record
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) equities market capitalisation slumped further on Wednesday over sustained selloffs in large and mid-cap listed companies’ stocks. The bears maintained dominance in the market, with the anticipated rise in the exchange rate and fuel prices.
The recent performance showed that the local bourse is giving up gain despite unimpressive return in the fixed income market – at least negative real return has persisted and government securities rates remain exposed to inflation movement.
On the other hand, year-to-date return suggests that equities investors are fully protected against Nigeria’s running inflation – even current market performance beats the annual inflation rate.
Yesterday, the local bourse recorded its third consecutive loss this week, following profit-taking activities on AIRTELAFRI, the telecom company worth about N5 trillion lost 5.3% as investors dumped its shares.
Stockbrokers said the decline was influenced by investors selling pressure on prominent stocks such as AIRTELAFRI (5.30%), FIDELITYBK (-3.95%), FCMB (-2.81%), GTCO (-0.53%), ACCESSCORP (-0.59%), and 18 other stocks.
Consequently, the All-Share index declined by 0.5% to 64,625.28 points. Accordingly, the month and year-to-date gains fell to +0.5% and +26.1%, respectively.
The total volume traded increased by 4.0% to 291.71 million units, valued at N7.43 billion, and exchanged in 6,213 deals. GTCO was the most traded stock by volume at 41.75 million units, while AIRTELAFRI was the most traded stock by value at N1.82 billion.
Stockbrokers reported that performance across the sectors was mixed, as the Insurance (-2.8%) and Banking (-0.4%) indices declined, while the Consumer Goods (+2.4%) and Oil & Gas (+0.4%) indices advanced.
Meanwhile, the Industrial Goods index closed flat. As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.7x), as 16 tickers lost relative to 22 gainers. NEM (-10.0%) and SUNUASSUR (-8.5%) topped the losers’ list. ETERNA (+10.0%) and CWG (+8.6%) recorded the highest gains of the day. Overall, equities market cap declined by N164 billion to N35.2 trillion on Wednesday.
#NGX Slumps, Return Still Beats Inflation Record NESG Predicts Stronger Economic Growth
