The value of the Nigerian stock market fell by around N28 billion in the middle of the week, as selloffs in Tier-1 bank shares pulled the banking index down by 3% despite corporate results announcements, interrupting the previous day’s rise.
According to stockbrokers, the dismal performance was caused by investors’ massive profit-taking in Banking companies. This was aided by selloffs in Transcorp and Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN Plc), which caused the benchmark index to fall.
According to market statistics, the Nigerian Exchange fell by eight basis points (bps) to settle at 66,439.53 points, down from 66,490.34 points the previous day.
Major gainers today were CHIPLC (+10.0%) and CAPHOTEL (+10.0%). But investors’ sell-off activities were stronger, resulting in a decline in prices across tickers like TRANSCORP (-9.99%), GTCO (-0.95%), FLOURMILL (-1.52%), FIDELITYBK (-1.42%), ACCESSCORP (-0.30%), ZENITHBANK (-1.79%), along with 18 other stocks.
There was a price decline in TRANSCOH (-10.1%) OANDO (0.9%) and ETERNA (-0.6%) and CWG (-9.9%). With the return of the bears into the local bourse, year-to-date return slid to 29.64% from 29.7%, accompanied by a 0.08% downturn in the overall market capitalization.
Meanwhile, activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 45.8% and 11.1% to 637.1m units and ₦7.8bn respectively. Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, improved to 0.05x from 0.04x in the prior session as 27 stocks advanced, 24 declined, and 64 closed flat
Market activity witnessed a surge as both trading volume and value exhibited growth, expanding by 45.83% and 11.08% to reach 637.19 million units and N7.79 billion, respectively.
On sectors, the Insurance (+1.5%), Consumer Goods (+0.3%) and Industrial Goods (+0.1%) indices advanced, while the Banking (-0.3%) index declined. Meanwhile, the Oil & Gas index closed flat. Overall, the Nigerian Exchange market capitalisation declined by N27.81 billion to close at N36.36 trillion
