The equities market on Wednesday maintained a bearish position with a decline of N69 billion, driven by investors’ profit-taking on United Capital Plc and 20 others.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index (NGX ASI) declined by 120.95 basis points or 0.12 per cent to close at 100,365.17 basis points. Also, market capitalisation lost N69 billion to close at N56.830 trillion.
Following the hike in Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 26.75 per cent, analysts at Cordros Research in a report expressed that “Before the meeting, we noticed that the increase in yields in the fixed-income market reduced interest in equities, particularly among domestic institutional investors.
“While the smaller increase in the MPR may suggest a more moderate approach to monetary tightening, we do not anticipate a significant shift in the market’s trading pattern. In the short term, we expect the full commencement of the HY-24 earnings season to dictate market performance.
“Subsequently, as domestic investors remain the dominant players in the market, (65per cent market share as of May), we believe sensitivity to rising fixed income yields will remain a downside to market performance in the medium term.”
However, as measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative, as 17 stocks gained relative to 21 losers.
International Breweries and Sovereign Trust Insurance John Holt emerged the highest price gainer of 10 per cent each to close at N4.07 and 50 kobo respectively, while Deap Capital Management and Trust followed with a gain of 9.80 per cent to close at 56 kobo, per share.
The Initiates Plc (TIP) rose by 7.50 per cent to close at N2.15, while FCMB Group appreciated by 5.26 per cent to close at N8.00, per share. On the other side, Secure Electronic Technology led others on the losers’ chart with 9.43 per cent to close at 48 kobo, per share. R.T. Briscoe Nigeria followed with a decline of 8.22 per cent to close at 67 kobo, while UBA shed 5.07 per cent to close at N21.55, per share.
Livestock Feeds lost 4.56 per cent to close at N2.30, while United Capital depreciated by 4.27 per cent to close at N37.00, per share.
The total volume traded increased by 77.2 per cent to 497.843 million units, valued at N8.605 billion, and exchanged in 8,412 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Veritas Kapital Assurance led the activity with 22.505 million shares worth N23.026 million.
United Capital followed with account of 20.854 million shares valued at N817.098 million, while Jaiz Bank traded 20.784 million shares valued at N45.110 million.
Access Holdings traded 20.4 million shares worth N394.316 million, while Prestige Assurance traded 16.812 million shares worth N8.586 million.
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