Investors lose N58.3bn as equities market halts bulls

Equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) opened the week bearish,  halting seven days of successive rally on the local bourse.

At the end of Tuesday’s trade, the domestic stock market index moderated by 0.20 per cent to settle at 54,296.48 basis points amid profit taking activity.

Specifically, investors sold part of their holdings in tickers such as Geregu Power, Transnational Corporation, International Breweries, PZ and Lafarge Africa; hence, their respective share prices fell by 10.00 per cent, 9.96 per cent, 8.51 per cent, 6.56 per cent, and 1.66 per cent, respectively. 

Consequently, the ASI’s year-to-date (YTD) return decreased to 2.04 per cent.

Equities investors therefore lost N58.28 billion as the market capitalisation settled at N28.48 trillion by the end of the day’s trading sessions. 

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 30 tickers gained relative to 23 losers. Union Bank of Nigeria and Conoil  recorded the highest gains of the day having appreciated in share value by 10.0 per cent, respectively, while Geregu Power and Transnational Corporation topped the losers’ list after their respective share prices dipped by 10.9 per cent.

Sectoral performance was positive, as four of the five indices tracked closed in green; the NGX Banking, NGX Insurance, NGX Consumer Goods, and NGX Oil/Gas indices rose by 2.84 per cent, 1.25 per cent, 0.31 per cent, and 1.05 per cent, respectively. On the flip side, the NGX Industrial Index dwindled by 0.08 per cent. Meanwhile, trading activity nosedived, with total volume and value decreasing by 82.41 per cent and 60.59 per cent, respectively, to 550.29 million units and N5.15 billion. 

Activities at the local bourse were unimpressive on Tuesday as analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 60.59 per cent. A total of 550.29 million shares valued at N5.15 billion were exchanged in 6,250 deals. 

Access Holdings led the volume and value charts with 150.07 million units traded in deals worth N1.57 billion.

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