Equities investors’ wealth shrink by N403bn as market sheds 0.72%

BY TEMITOPE ADEBAYO

The Nigerian equities market yesterday began the trading week in negative territory, resulting in investors losses of N403 billion.

The All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 711.18 per cent, representing a loss of 0.72 per cent to close at 97,880.94 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value shed N403 billion to close at N55.575 trillion.

The market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; BUA Cement, Transcorp Hotels, Skyway Aviation Handling Company, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and Zenith Bank.

Looking forward, United Capital Plc said “the equities market is expected to show mixed performance as investors adopt opportunistic investment strategy. We foresee selective buying of fundamentally strong stocks continuing into the upcoming week.

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“Market activity is anticipated to rise due to the ongoing banks’ recapitalization efforts and anticipated corporate actions in the near term.

“Conversely, elevated interest rates in the fixed-income market are likely to exert negative pressure on the equities market as investors capitalize on higher fixed-income yields. Overall, fund managers and investors are advised to maintain an opportunistic approach to capitalize on prevailing market opportunities.”

However, market breadth closed positive, as 29 stocks gained relative to 20 stocks that declined. Julius Berger and NASCON Allied Industries recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N121.00 and N34.65 respectively, per share. Oando and TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria followed with a gain of 9.98 per cent each to close at N44.65 and N470.40 respectively, while Dangote Sugar Refinery rose by 9.95 per cent to close at N40.35, per share.

On the other hand, BUA Cement led the losers’ chart by 9.93 per cent to close at N114.30, per share. Skyway Aviation Handling Company followed with a decline of 5.43 per cent to close at N24.40, while SUNU Assurance lost 4.76 per cent to close at N1.20, per share.

Wapic Insurance down by 2.53 per cent to close at 77 kobo, while CWG declined by 2.38 per cent to close at N6.15, per share.

The total volume traded advanced by 4.36 per cent to 498.271 million units, valued at N11.771 billion, and exchanged in 10,645 deals. Transactions in the shares of GTCO topped the activity chart with 123.920 million shares valued at N5.658 billion. Veritas Kapital Assurance followed with 39.307 million shares worth N47.858 million, while Access Holdings traded 38.300 million shares valued at N744.354 million.

Japaul Gold & Ventures traded 33.415 million shares valued at N79.728 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 29.051 million shares worth N668.227 million.