Bears persists at NGX as ASI declines by 0.3%

On Thursday, equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) was bearish, extending its downward trajectory, with the All-Share Index (ASI) shedding 0.34 percent to close at 96,210.20 basis points.

As a result, the monthly and year-to-date returns settled at -0.4 percent and +28.7 percent, respectively.

Overall, the market capitalisation of listed equities declined by 0.34 percent to N55.27 trillion.
Investor sentiment soured as a wave of sell-offs wiped N188 billion from investors’ portfolios.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 28 tickers lost relative to 19 gainers.

On the performance board, RT Briscoe, FTN Cocoa Processor, Oando and Deap Capital, and Guinea Insurance led the decliners’ list, having shed 10.0 percent, 9.80 percent, 9.65 percent, 9.57 percent, and 9.09 percent, respectively, weighing heavily on overall market performance.

Sectoral analysis painted a predominantly bearish picture as selling pressures permeated most areas of the market.

The banking sector took the hardest hit, declining by 0.81 percent, driven by losses in United Bank for Africa, Fidelity Bank, Access Holdings, Zenith Bank, and Jaiz Bank.

Consumer goods and industrial goods sectors also slipped, posting marginal losses of 0.39 percent and 0.01 percent, respectively, primarily due to downward moves in flour mills in Nigeria, Vitafoam, Nigerian breweries, and Lafarge Africa.

Conversely, the insurance and oil/gas sectors showed pockets of resilience, posting modest gains of 0.10 percent and 0.06 percent, respectively.

Trading activity on the Nigerian Exchange was subdued, with total deals and traded volume dipping by 17.79 percent and 0.16 percent, settling at 9,897 deals and 388.62 million units. However, the traded value surged by 16.94 percent to N9.57 billion.

Zenith Bank and Oando emerged as the day’s most actively traded stocks. Zenith Bank led in traded volume with 56.56 million units exchanged across 714 trades.

Meanwhile, Oando dominated in traded value, contributing a substantial N3.19 billion to the day’s turnover.

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