Equities trading begins week bearish as investors lose N55.40bn

On Monday, equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) kicked off on a bearish note as sell pressures on Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Dangote Sugar, Seplat Energy and Zenith Bank undermined market performance as these high-capitalised stocks shed 7.9 percent, 10.0 percent, 2.3 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively.

Accordingly, the All-Share Index (ASI) shed 28 basis points by the close of the day, reaching 97,879.94 basis points compared to the previous session’s 98,152.91 points. 

As a result, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -6.3 percent and +31.0 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, equities investors lost N107.70 billion from their cumulative investment as the market capitalization settled at N55.40 trillion by the end of trading activities on Monday.

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As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 24 tickers gained relative to 19 losers. On the performance board, Sterling Financial Holdings and First Bank of Nigeria Holdings topped the gainers’ list having appreciated in share value by 10.0 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively, while Dangote Sugar and Secure Electronic Technology recorded the most significant losses of the day after their share prices fell by 10.0 percent, respectively..

Across sectors, there was a negative performance as all indices declined. The Consumer Goods index was the worst performer, shed 0.79 percent. Followed by the Insurance, Banking, Industrial and Oil/Gas indices, which shed 0.70 percent, 0.41 percent, 0.02 percent and 0.02 percent, respectively. 

However, activities at the local bourse were impressive as analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 1.20 percent. 

A total of 277.24 million shares valued at N5.08 billion were exchanged in 8,714 deals. United Bank for Africa led the volume and value chart with 34.56 million units traded in deals worth N799.45 million.