Sectoral Selloff Drags NGX Index, Market Cap Lower
Sectoral rotation in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) trading platform plunged the local bourse’s key performance indicators lower on Monday.
Both market capitalisation and the All-share index went south as investors rotated positions among undervalued, overvalued, overbought and oversold.
The domestic equities market opened the week weak, as declines in 39 counters offset gains in 40 counters, leaving the NGXASI slightly lower by 5 basis points to close at 250,311.33 pts and reducing the year-to-date return to +60.85%.
As with the overall market close, sectoral indices moved into bearish territory. NGX Consumer Goods recorded the steepest decline, down 0.26%, driven by DANGSUGAR (-2.75%) and NB (-1.09%).
NGX Insurance also inched lower by 0.20%, pressured by SOVRENINS (-9.86%) and MBENEFIT (-1.63%). Likewise, NGX Industrial (-0.09%) was dragged lower by BERGER (-2.93%) and WAPCO (-0.59%).
However, on the positive side, NGX Oil and Gas was up +0.40%, supported by gains in OANDO and ARADEL (+0.06%) and NGX Banking (+0.17%), with ZENITHBANK (+0.78%) and FIRSTHOLDCO (+0.43%) providing support.
Activity on the trading desk was mixed, with transaction volume up 2.08% to 800.37 million units, while transaction value fell 14.41% to NGN37.02 billion.
UBA was the most traded counter by volume, with 64.97 million shares, while ARADEL was the highest traded by value, with NGN6.15 billion in share value.
Likewise, market breadth weakened to 1.03x from 1.59x on Friday. OANDO and UPL were the top gainers, each up +10.00%, while NCR and ZICHIS were the largest decliners, down 9.99% each.
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