Following days of gains, equity investors lost over N267 billion as a result of sell-side actions on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). On Thursday, equities market performance indicators fell due to post-rate hike profit taking on stocks that had lately seen considerable price appreciation.
Stockbrokers reported a 0.47% drop in key performance metrics, while year-to-date returns declined due to significant market selloffs. The NGX All-Share Index fell by 463.86 basis points, or 0.47%, to 98,523.56.
This fall ended the market’s four-day winning streak, with investors profiting in several medium- and large-cap firms. Negative equities market drivers include CADBURY, OKOMUOIL, MTNN, OANDO, and others.
Stock analysts said market activities inched lower as the total volume and total value traded for the day dropped by 42.92% and 47.44%, respectively. In its note, Atlass Portfolios Limited said approximately 344.36 million units valued at ₦6,609.14 million were transacted across 9,005 deals.
UBA was the most traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 8.53% of the total volume of traded in the market. Other volume drivers include ACCESSCORP (7.88%), HONYFLOUR (7.45%), STERLINGNG (7.39%), and ZENITHBANK (4.33%) to complete the top 5 on the volume chart.
UBA also emerged as the most traded stock in value terms, accounting for 11.46% of the total value of trades on the exchange.
FTNCOCOA topped the advancers’ chart with a price appreciation of 9.82 percent. Other gainers include ELLAHLAKES with (+9.80%) growth, DEAPCAP (+9.78%), REGALINS (+8.62%), RTBRISCOE (+8.11%), CONHALLPLC (+5.67%) and twenty-three others.
Trading data showed that twenty-six stocks depreciated on the Nigerian Exchange. CAVERTON was the top loser, with a price depreciation of -9.73%. Other decliners include CADBURY (-9.39%), OKOMUOIL (-7.63%), HONYFLOUR (-5.79%), MTNN (-4.40%), and OANDO (-2.67%).
Despite the downward pressure, the market breadth closed positive, recording 29 gainers and 26 losers. On the other hand, the market sector performance was negative, as three of the five major market sectors went down.
The Banking sector dropped by -0.40% followed by the Oil & Gas sector, down by 0.13% while the Industrial sector lost -0.05%. The Insurance and Consumer goods sectors grew by 0.57% and 0.21% respectively.
Overall, equities market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange fell by ₦266.55 billion to close at ₦56.61 trillion.
