Nigerian stocks market sheds N153bn as investors take profit

The equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited depreciated by N153billion on Monday to halt last week’s bullish sentiment.

The downturn was due to market watchers’ sell-off sentiment in all major sectors, except the banking and industrial goods sectors.

In summary, the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) dipped by 293.48 basis points, representing a decrease of 0.71 per cent, to close at 41,144.67 basis points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value declined by N153 billion to close at N21.472 trillion.

The market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Nestle Nigeria, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), FBN Holdings (FBNH), May and Baker Nigeria and NPF Microfinance Bank.

Hence, the market breadth closed negative, recording 21 losers as against 19 gainers. Nigerian Exchange Group recorded the highest price gain of 9.86 per cent to close at N19.50, per share. Ikeja Hotel followed with a gain of 9.52 per cent to close at N1.15 and Custodian Investment went up 7.53 per cent to close at N7.85, per share.

Honeywell Flour Mills up by 6.48 per cent to close at N3.78, while Chams appreciated by 4.55 per cent to close at 23 kobo, per share.

On the other hand, May and Baker Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 8.02 per cent to close at N4.36, per share. Royal Exchange followed with a decline of 7.81 per cent to close at 59 kobo, while NPF Microfinance Bank shed 7.57 per cent to close at N1.71, per share.

FBNH declined 7.48 per cent to close at N11.75, while Mutual Benefits Assurance shed 6.67 per cent to close at 28 kobo, per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume of trades fell by 53.53 per cent to 338.719 million units, valued at N4.058 billion, and exchanged in 5,866 deals. Transactions in the shares of FBNH topped the activity chart with 67.615 million shares valued at N832.796 million.

Access Bank followed with 36.619 million shares worth N351.206 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 26.550 million shares valued at N26.623 million.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 25.563 million shares valued at N755.249 million, while Fidelity Bank transacted 19.474 million shares worth N53.251 million.

Analysts at Investment One research said, “The equities market closed down today due to the losses recorded in the Consumer Goods and Oil and Gas sectors.

“Going forward, we expect investors’ sentiments to be swayed by the search for real positive returns and developments in the interest rate space. We reiterate that this may be a great period to pick up some quality names with a medium to the long-term investment horizon.”