The market value of all stocks listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) fell by more than N35 billion as some equity investors liquidated positions in Oando, MTN Nigeria, and other local bourse firms.
The market finished down again, pushing market performance indicators down by 0.09%. Selloffs in previously rising equities resumed on Thursday. Profit-taking was reported in OANDO (-9.93%), putting a stop to the company’s nine consecutive session advances.
Equities investors also sold MTNN, leading its market value to fall by 0.41%. NB was down 3.54% due to selloffs, TRANSCORP was down 4.31%, and ACCESSCORP was down 1.74%. According to Atlass Portfolios Limited, the NGX year-to-date return has decreased further, although it is still much higher than the annual inflation rate of 2%.
Data from the NGX showed that year-to-date return declined to 33.21% following weak buying arrangements in the local exchange. The selloffs resulted in a 64.58 basis points decline in the Nigerian Exchange All Share Index, representing a decrease of -0.09% to close at 68,271.14 points.
However, market activities were up, as the Total Volume and Total Value traded for the day increased by +98.34% and +8.03% respectively. Stockbrokers at Atlass Portfolios Limited told investors in its market update that approximately 1,123.85 million units valued at ₦5,818.85 million were transacted in 7,949 deals.
UNIVINSURE was the most traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 59.60% of the total volume of trades. The Insurer was followed by OANDO (8.97%), JAPAULGOLD (3.90%), ACCESSCORP (3.58%), and UBA (2.89%) to complete the top 5 on the volume chart.
Trading on the negative side of the market, OANDO was also the most traded stock in value terms, with 25.05% of the total value of trades on the exchange. JOHNHOLT topped the advancers’ chart for today with a price appreciation of 9.55 per cent.
The stock was trailed by DAARCOMM (9.52%), OMATEK (+9.52%), MBENEFIT (+9.30%), SUNUASSUR (+9.09%), and fifteen others. Other stocks that saw price appreciations include DANGSUGAR (+3.61%), UBN (+6.11%) and GTCO (+1.12%).
Due to negative trades, twenty-nine stocks depreciated. OANDO was the top loser, with a price depreciation of -9.93%, as LASACO (9.71%), CHAMS (-9.59%), NNFM (-8.57%), TRANSCORP (-4.31%), and FLOURMILL (-2.94%) also dipped in price.
As a result of the pattern witnessed, the market breadth closed negative, recording 20 gainers and 29 losers. Meanwhile, trading data from the NGX showed that the market sector performance closed positively. Stockbrokers reported that four of the five major market sectors ended in the green.
The Insurance sector grew by (+0.26%), followed by the Oil & Gas sector by (+0.19%) the Consumer goods sector by (+0.05%), and the Industrial sector, marginally by (+0.01%). The Banking sector was down by –0.46 % due to the impacts of increased sell-off activities on local banks’ shares which outweighed a moderate gain on GTCO.
Overall, the equities market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange declined by ₦35.34 billion to close at ₦37,365.28 trillion from ₦37,400.62 trillion yesterday.
