On Wednesday, at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) equities trading went southward, reversing its previous gains, as the All-Share Index dipped by 0.32 per cent to settle at 96,203.65 basis points.
Selloff in telco heavyweight, MTN Nigeria alongside First Bank of Nigeria Holdings and Access Holdings were the primary drivers of the market’s weak performance as their share prices dipped 7.91 per cent, 0.44 percent and 0.78 percent, respectively.
Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns moderated to -1.6 per cent and +28.7 percent, respectively.
Thus, the market capitalisation of listed equities fell by 0.32 per cent, closing at N55.26 trillion, erasing N176 billion from investors’ portfolios.
This decline came despite a stronger showing from gainers, as measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 34 tickers gained relative to 14 losers.
On the performance board, Industrial and Medical Gasses and Chams Holding Company topped the gainers’ list, having appreciated in share value by 10.0 percent, respectively; while Neimeith
Pharmaceuticals recorded the highest losses of the day after their respective share prices dipped 9.1 per cent and 8.6 per cent, respectively.
Despite the overall market downturn, sectoral performance remained predominantly positive.
The Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods, and Oil/Gas indices recorded gains of 0.62 percent, 1.87 per cent, 0.16 per cent, and 0.53 percent, respectively, while the Industrial Goods index posted a marginal decline of 0.01 per cent.
Trading activity on the Exchange reflected a mixed trend: the total number of deals and traded volume increased by 19.49 per cent and 0.78 percent to 10,148 deals and 446.61 million units, respectively, whereas the total traded value declined by 19.59 per cent to N4.53 billion.
Universal Insurance emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, with 52.60 million units exchanged in 135 deals, while Oando led in traded value, reaching N620 million.
ALSO READ THESE TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then