Nigerian Bourse Slides amidst ‘Bundle of Uncertainties’
After inching near 2008 high, bearish sentiments resurfaced in the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Thursday. Losses in GEREGU and NB drove the benchmark index lower amidst the scarcity of new naira notes and a bundle of uncertainties ahead of 2023 election.
There is general discomfort in Nigeria following scarcity of fuel and new naira, the situation that has triggered social unrest that saw some banks counting losses due to mobs attacks.
Accordingly, the All-Share Index fell by 0.1% to 54,359.90 points, dragging the size of the local bourse. Trading data show the market capitalisation declined by N36 billion to close at N29.608 trillion in contrast with N29.644 trillion achieved on Thursday.
The All-Share Index, which opened at 54, 427.05 shed 67.15 points or 0.12 per cent to close at 54, 359.90. The market’s weak performance was primarily driven by selloffs in stocks of Zenith Bank, Geregu, Nigerian Breweries and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCo).
The year-to-date (YTD) return fell to 6.07 per cent. Northern Nigeria Flour Mills recorded the highest price gain to lead the gainers’ chart, appreciating by 9.74 per cent to close at N10.70 per share.
Red Star Express trailed with a gain of 9.49 per cent to close at N2.77 and Transnational Express grew by 9.46 per cent to close at 81k per share.
Sunu Assurance was up by 9.38 per cent to close at 35k, while Tripple Gee appreciated by 8.7 per cent to close at N1.25 per share. Conversely, GlaxoSmithKline topped the losers’ table, dropping by 7.91 per cent to close at N6.40 per share.
Veritas Kapital and Cornerstone Insurance followed by losing 4.76 per cent each to close at 20k and 60k per share, respectively. Also, Wapic Insurance depreciated by 4.44 per cent to close at 43k per share. Fidelity Bank decreased by 3.39 per cent to close at N5.70 per share.
Analysis of the activity chart indicated that Universal Insurance emerged as the most active in volume terms, having accounted for 71.81 million shares worth N41.36 million.
It was followed by Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) with an exchange of 23.32 million shares valued at N560.37 million, and Sterling Bank sold 12.91 million shares worth N19.75 million.
AIICO exchanged 11.43 million shares valued at N6.91 million, while FBN Holdings sold 10.9 million shares worth N128.8 million. In all, investors staked N3.15 billion on 225.38 million shares transacted in 3,339 deals.
Sectoral performance was broadly negative, as the Insurance (-1.5%), Oil & Gas (-0.6%), Banking (-0.4%) and Consumer Goods (-0.3%) indices recorded losses, while the Industrial Goods index closed flat. #Nigerian Bourse Slides amidst ‘Bundle of Uncertainties’
