The equities trading week commenced on a bearish note on Monday as losses in Presco Plc and 18 others dragged the Nigerian Exchange’s overall capitalization down by N155 billion.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index (NSE ASI) declined by 272.97 per cent or 0.28 per cent, to close at 97,879.94 basis points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value shed N155 billion to close at N55.357 trillion.
The market’s negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium-capitalised stocks which are; Presco, Dangote Sugar Refinery, CAP, Berger Paints Nigeria and Zenith Bank.
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, closed positive as 25 stocks advanced, while 19 declined. Sterling Financial Holdings Company recorded the highest price gain of 9.95 per cent to close at N4.20 per share. FBN Holdings (FBNH) followed with a gain of 9.83 per cent to close at N22.35 and Honeywell Flour Mills was up by 9.40 per cent to close at N3.49 per share.
Tantalizer appreciated by 9.09 per cent to close at 36 kobo, while Caverton Offshore Support Group rose by 8.90 per cent to close at N1.59 per share. On the other hand, Dangote Sugar Refinery and Secure Electronic Technology led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each to close at N43.20 and 54 kobo respectively, while CAP followed with a decline of 9.88 per cent to close at N26.00, per share.
Berger Paints decreased by 9.87 per cent to close at N13.70, while Presco declined by 9.72 per cent to close at N209.00 per share. Also, the total volume traded advanced by 4.59 per cent to 277.241 million units, valued at N5.083 billion, and exchanged in 8,714 deals. Transactions in shares of United Bank for Africa (UBA) topped the activity chart with 34.563 million shares valued at N799.449 million. Initiates Plc (TIP) followed with 25.581 million shares worth N46.158 million, while Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) traded 19.396 million shares valued at N269.103 million.
Access Holdings 18.788 million shares valued at N318.631 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 18.716 million shares worth N589.631 million.
This week, United Capital Plc said “We expect the bearish sentiments amongst investors to persist in the local equities market given the recent developments in the fixed-income market.
“The impact of the high yields in the fixed-income market will continue to drive sell-offs as investors switch their asset classes to less risky assets. However, we expect pockets of bargain-hunting activities across dividend-paying stocks, in anticipation of the corporates’ qualification and payment dates.”
