The Nigerian Exchange’s (NGX) equity market capitalization decreased by N132 billion after investors sold off their shares in Zenith, FBN Holdings. The market has been losing ground because of the ongoing risk-off attitude.
The persistent pessimism surrounding the local stock exchange has been fueled by the subpar financial results of several firms disclosing substantial foreign exchange losses, the high yield on investments in fixed-income instruments, and the overall fragile macroeconomic environment.
Stockbrokers claim that sell-offs in Tier-one banking companies, namely Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, and United Bank of Africa, were the main cause of the significant daily loss amounting to billions of dollars.
Price reductions were also seen by other smaller lenders, such as FCMB, Wema Bank, and Sterling Bank. Among the companies on the loser ranking are PZ Cussons and Dangote Sugar. The All-Share Index also dropped by 0.24 per cent, losing 235 points to settle at 97,473.98 from an opening of 97,708.74.
Year-to-date (YTD) figures fell to 30.36 per cent, reflecting the overall negative sentiment prevailing in the market. However, the market breadth closed positive with 22 gainers and 20 losers.
LearnAfrica and Tantalizers led the gainers’ table by 10 percent each, closing at N3.63 and 55k per share, respectively. Cutix gained 8.33 percent, and Regency Alliance Insurance gained 9.38 percent. McNichols Plc gained 9.89 percent, trailing closely behind.
Conversely, the largest losses were incurred by Dangote Sugar, PZ Cussons Nigeria, and The Initiates Plc, which all saw their share prices close at N40.50, N22.50, and N2.25, respectively, after declining by 10%. Moreover, NEM and Caverton experienced notable drops of 9.66% and 9.55%, respectively, ending at N9.35 and N1.24 per share.
The trade turnover settled at 48.90 percent lower than the previous session. A total of 306.60 million shares valued at N5.81 billion were transacted in 7,951 deals, in contrast to 439.10 million shares valued at N11.38 billion in 8,607 deals traded on Monday. Access Corporation led the activity chart in volume, with 33.23 million shares valued at N575.59 million. With 32.25 million shares valued at N1.36 billion, GTCO came next to take the lead in the value chart.
Nigerian Breweries sold 27.46 million shares worth N631.76 million, and UBA traded 22.52 million shares valued at N519.50 million. Also, Royal Exchange Plc transacted 19.46 million shares worth N10.18 million. Overall, the equities market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange settled lower, losing N132 billion to close at N55.132 trillion from N55.264 trillion.
