Stock Market Investors Lose N1trn in April
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation declined by one trillion naira in the month of April as profit takers booked early exits ahead of earnings season in the local bourse.
The massive losses reported were driven by poor performance seen in the banking index following weak sentiments, and the selloff in telecom companies’ shares – MTN Nigeria and Airtel saw negative price movements.
The month of April came with few trading days due to the holidays but that did not halt market stimulating events from unfolding, stockbrokers at Afrinvest Limited said in a note.
According to stock analysts, stock market stimulating events seen include dividend payout, corporate earnings releases, price adjustments, and boardroom tussles.
Afrinvest said nevertheless, the bears outperformed the bulls on most of the trading days, which led to a sustained month-on-month decline on the bourse.
Monthly trading activity expanded as average volume and value traded rose 242.2% and 64.7% to 1.1bn units and ₦5.2bn respectively.
TRANSCORP led the top traded stock as 667.2 million shares exchanged hands, followed by UBA with total trade valued at 410.6 million units while COURTVILLE did 327.4 million units
Meanwhile, stockbrokers reported that GTCO led by value with a total sum of ₦7.4 billion on record followed by MTNN ₦4.9 billion while UBA did ₦3.3 billion. In its market brief, Afrinvest Limited said within its sector coverage, monthly performance was downbeat as only 2 indices recorded gains.
The firm stated that leading the losers pack was the AFR-ICT and Banking indices which dipped 10.4% and 3.3% respectively on the back selloffs in AIRTELAF (-15.5%), MTNN (-4.7%), ZENITH (-11.8%), and UBA (-7.2%).
Trailing, losses in ETERNA (-14.0%), SEPLAT (-3.0%), and WAPCO (-7.3%) pushed the Oil & Gas and Industrial Goods indices lower by 1.7% and 0.4% in that order., according to trading record.
Conversely, the Consumer Goods and Insurance indices gained 4.8% and 3.9% respectively due to buying interest in HONYFLOUR (+42.3%), BUAFOODS (+11.8%), MANSARD (+24.7%), and LINKASSU (+14.0%).
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, improved to -0.01x from -0.3x recorded last month as 41 stocks gained, 42 lost and 69 were unchanged.
The top performing stocks for the month were TRANSCORP (+102.2%), NAHCO (+47.5%), and HONYFLOU (+42.3%) while ROYALEX (-28.2%), CHAMPION (-21.3%), and AIRTELAF (-15.5%) were the top underperforming stocks.
Noteworthy, the sharp gain in TRANSCORP was driven by sizeable share acquisition by Femi Otedola (2.6bn units & 6.3%) and Heirs Holdings Limited (9.9bn units & 25.6%), though the former exited his position by month end.
Looking ahead, stock analysts at Afrinvest said they anticipate a sustained bearish momentum in May barring any positive catalyst.
Overall, the benchmark index lost 3.4% to 52,403.51 points, and year-to-date return lowered to 2.2% from 7.0% while market capitalisation fell by ₦1.0 trillion to ₦28.5 trillion. #Stock Market Investors Lose N1trn in April
