Stock Market Depreciates By N33bn On Selloffs In MTN, Others

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) stock market lost N33 billion yesterday as a result of selloffs in MTN Nigeria Communications (MTN) and 14 other companies.

The market capitalization lost N33 billion as a result of the telecommunications giant’s 0.5% depreciation and Stanbic IBTC Holding’s 5.6% decline, closing at N26.976 trillion as opposed to the N27.009 trillion it began trading at.

As a consequence, from 50,075.47 basis points when the stock market started for trade, the NGX All Share Index (ASI) dropped by 60.87 basis points or 0.12% to end at 50,014.60 basis points.

Market sentiment was upbeat as evidenced by the market breadth indicator, with 21 stocks rising relative to 15 declining ones.

The highest price gain was 10% for Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), which closed at N5.83 per share. Ikeja Hotel increased 9.43 percent to settle at N1.16 a share, and FCMB Group gained 9.84 percent to conclude at N3.35.

Courteville Business Solutions increased by 8.51% to conclude at 51 kobos per share, while Multiverse Mining and Exploration rose by 9.22% to close at N2.25 a share.

Associated Bus Company, on the other hand, topped the losers’ table by 6.67% to settle at 28 kobo per share. Jaiz Bank was next, with a drop of 5.56 per cent to close at 85 kobos, while Stanbic IBTC Holdings shed 3.28 per cent to close at N28.05, per share.

Caverton Offshore Support Group lost 2.86 per cent to close at N1.02, while UBA shed 2.78 per cent to close at N7.00, per share. Also, the total volume traded fell by 52.2 per cent to 133.591 million shares, worth N2.438 billion, and traded in 4,292 deals.

Transactions in the shares of UBA topped the activity chart with 20.453 million shares valued at N143.647 million. Chams followed with 8.978 million shares worth N2.772 million, while Access Holdings traded 8.166 million shares valued at N72.687 million.

Japaul Gold & Ventures traded 7.346 million shares valued at N2.860 million, while Jaiz Bank transacted 7.104 million shares worth N6.240 million.

Analysts at GTI Securities Limited said “the Nigerian equity market closed bearish today due to sell-off in blue-chip stocks such as MTNN and others. We expect mixed sentiments to continue, as more companies release their second quarter (Q2) results.”