Equities Market Loses N50bn to Selling Rallies

The ongoing selling festival in the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) extended Wednesday as sell-side investors pull out funds from the local bourse. Bearish proceedings in the market were due to sell-offs on medium and heavy-weight stocks.

Based on market data from the Nigerian Exchange, equities investors dumped part of their holdings in TRANSCORP, UBN, NB, MTNN, and DANGSUGAR As a result of the selling rallies on some large-weight stocks, key performance indicators plunged, driven by negative share price movement.

Consequently, the stock market year-to-date return declined to 1.87%, after equities investors’ reported valuation was down by about ₦50 billion. The market index or the All-Share Index reduced by 91.47 basis points today, representing a decrease of -0.17% to close at 52,207.77.

However, market activities were mixed, as the total volume traded increased by +21.77%, while the total value traded reduced by -2.37%. Stockbrokers at Atlass Portfolios Limited said approximately 670.08 million units valued at ₦5,028.47 million were transacted in 6,254 deals.

Leading the top 5 on the volume chart, TRANSCORP was the most traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 41.27% of the total volume of trades. The conglomerate shares trading volume was followed by ACCESSCORP (26.03%), FIDELITYBK (4.69%), CHAMS (2.68%), and GTCO (2.37%)

Meanwhile, ACCESSCORP was the most traded stock in value terms, with 35.91% of the total value of trades on the exchange. ARDOVA topped the advancers’ chart with a price appreciation of 9.25 percent, trailed by ACADEMY (8.90%), CUTIX (8.89%), RTBRISCOE (+8.33%), and LINKASSURE (+8.16%), and seventeen others.

Eighteen stocks depreciated, where TRANSCORP was the top loser, with a price depreciation of -9.49% to close at ₦2.29, as INTENEGINS (-8.87%), UBN (-7.79%), FCMB (-7.28%), and NB (-6.14%) also dipped in price.

Stockbrokers reported that the market breadth closed positive, recording 22 gainers and 18 losers while the market sector performance closed positive.

Three of the five major market sectors were up, led by the Oil & Gas sector (+0.78%), trailed by the Banking sector (+0.17%), and the Industrial sector (+0.07%), while the Insurance and Consumer goods sectors dropped by -0.66% and -0.49% respectively.

Overall, equities market capitalisation lost N49.80 billion, representing a decline of -0.17% to close at ₦28,427.32 trillion from ₦28,477.12 trillion yesterday.