Nigerian Exchange Bleeds as Sell-Side Pressure Deepens
Trading activities on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) ended on a negative note after the Easter celebration with a deep cut in market capitalisation in addition to the previous week’s losses.
The sustained downturn in equities trading has been driven by weak sentiment in the local bourse following interest rate hikes, which continues to support yield repricing in the fixed income segment.
In addition, large numbers of equities investors are repositioning their books to optimise portfolio returns, and that has led to increased activities by sell-side investors booking early profits.
The equities market has since then, begun to give up previous gains reported as local investors dominated the exchange after large foreign investors exited.
On Tuesday, trading data show that stock market key performance indicators dipped by -1.96%. Last week, equities investors lost N675 billion due to profit takings.
Now, the year to date has moderated to 1.37% while investors’ wealth was down by ₦569 billion in a day. The market index (All-Share Index) decreased by 1,041.14 basis points to close at 51,952.99.
Data from the local bourse showed that market activities were up, as the total volume and total value traded for the day increased by +547.67% and +146.84% respectively.
In a market note, stockbrokers at Atlass Portfolios Limited stated that approximately 1,711.65 million units valued at ₦4,707.28 million were transacted in 4,224 deals.
TRANSCORP was the most traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 90.16% of the total volume of trades.
The conglomerate was followed by ZENITHBANK (2.58%), UBA (1.22%), FIDELITYBK (0.49%), and ROYALEX (0.37%) to complete the top 5 on the volume chart.
Also, TRANSCORP was also the most traded stock in value terms, with 43.88% of the total value of trades on the exchange, according to stockbrokers’ notes.
CAVERTON topped the advancers’ chart with a price appreciation of 8.25 percent, trailed by NAHCO (3.06%), TRANSCORP (2.19%), and STERLINGNG (1.35%).
Nineteen stocks depreciated, where AIRTELAFRI was the top loser, with a price depreciation of -10.00% to close at ₦1,198.00.
CHIPLC (-9.09%), ROYALEX (- 9.09%), MULITVERSE (-8.75%), and NEIMETH (-8.28%) also dipped in price.
In light of the latest bearish outing, the market breadth closed negative, recording 4 gainers and 28 losers.
As expected with the bearish trade pattern seen, the Nigerian Exchange indices closed negative, as four of the five major market sectors were down.
The Insurance sector, dropped by -1.83%, followed by the Industrial sector (-0.57%), the Banking sector (-0.34%), and the Consumer goods (-0.16%). The Oil & Gas sector closed unchanged.
Overall, the equities market capitalisation declined further, losing ₦569.12 billion, representing a decrease of -1.97% to close at ₦28,300.04 trillion from ₦28,869.16 trillion last Thursday. # Nigerian Exchange Bleeds as Sell-Side Pressure Deepens
