Categories: Business

Local stock market halts bullish trend as investors lose N127.1bn

Equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday was negative, halting the bullish streak of the week as profit-taking activities continued on some high and medium-cap stocks.

Accordingly, the All-Share Index declined by 0.5 per cent to 44,625.18 basis points, leaving the Month-to-Date loss increased to -9.0 per cent, while the Year-to-Date gain moderated to +4.5 per cent.

Equities investors, therefore, lost N127.06 billion from their investment as the market capitalization closed at N24.31 trillion.

Specifically, sell-off activities by investors moderated the share prices of medium and large-cap stocks. Consequently, Wapic Insurance, Airtel Africa, Geregu and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) declined by 8.33 per cent, 2.83 per cent, 1.72 per cent, and 1.10 per cent, respectively.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 11 tickers gained relative to nine losers. On the performance chart, Regal Insurance and Sovereign Insurance recorded the most significant gains of the day after their respective share prices advanced by 8.7 per cent and 8.0 per cent, while Pharmadeko and Linkage Assurance topped the losers’ list as their share prices depreciated by 9.8 per cent and 9.3 per cent, respectively.

Sectorial performance was a mixed bag, with the NGX Banking index and the NGX Consumer Goods index rising by 1.11 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively, while the NGX Oil/Gas index and the NGX Industrial index remained flat. The NGX Insurance index declined by 0.98 per cent.

Market activity on Thursday came in weak with total deals and value decreasing by 5.93 per cent and 54.07 per cent, respectively, to 2,998 trades and N1.55 billion.

In terms of volume, Mutual Benefits was the most active stock, with 47.85 million shares worth N13.41 million changing hands in 11 deals, while Airtel Africa led the value chart in deals worth N573.53 million.

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