MTN Nigeria’s market value climbed by N126 billion on May 20, bringing its market capitalization from N4.70 trillion to N4.83 trillion.
MTN was a big contribution to the NGX’s bullish run during the trading day as the market posted a 0.05% gain.
Access Holdings topped in both volume and value traded on May 20, with 201.31 million shares trading for N3.406 billion.
The All-Share Index for the NGX closed at 98,176.58 points, up 50.85 points from the previous closing value of 98,125.73. In the meantime, from N55.508 trillion to N55.536 trillion, the total market capitalization increased.
8,439 trades were made on May 20, up from 6,934 on the previous trading day, making it a busy trading day.
In addition, the market’s turnover volume increased by 188% to 405.662 million shares from 140.772 million shares on the previous trading day. On the other hand, the value decreased by 29% to N6.69 billion from N9.42 billion the day before.
Highlights of the market
McNichols saw the largest gains of the day, rising 10%. Regal Insurance gained 9.68%, while Berger Paints gained 9.72%. WAPIC saw a 6.15% increase, while Cornerstone Insurance saw a 5% increase.
Champion Breweries saw its stock drop by 10%, making it the greatest loser.
Other losers included RT Briscoe (down 9.62%), Jaiz Bank (9.57%), Chams Holdco (9.54%), Sovereign Insurance (9.76%), and C&I Leasing (down 9.8%).
Access Holdings earned a 1.47% increase and dominated the trading volume with 201.31 million shares traded. Following with 38.209 million shares traded, Transcorp Plc saw a decrease of 2.93%. 15.263 million shares of Zenith Bank were exchanged, a 3.05% decrease. While Jaiz Bank saw 13.680 million shares traded, Nigerian Breweries traded 13.736 million shares, resulting in a 0.43% gain.
Access Holdings topped the way in terms of value with N3.406 billion, followed by Zenith Bank with N484.71 million.
Following with N476.55 million was MTN Nigeria; Transcorp came in second with N435.75 million; and Nigerian Breweries saw an increase in value of N316.28 million.
No reprieve for banking stocks yet
The NGX Banking Index, which tracks banking firms, saw a 5.3% fall in the week ending May 17, 2024, with a finish of 791.54 points. Additionally, on May 20, the NGX Banking Index dropped 1.5% to settle at 779.57 points, indicating that investors were still pessimistic about banking stocks.
Zenith Bank saw a 3.05% loss, GTCO saw a 1.38% fall, and FBN Holdings saw a 0.22% decline.
UBA saw a 4.35% fall, Jaiz Bank saw a 9.57% loss, Fidelity Bank saw a 1.38% loss, and Wema Bank saw a 2.19% loss.
On the other hand, Unity Bank and Access Holdings increased by 3.13% and 1.47%, respectively.
Banking stocks have dropped by roughly 24.3% since the recapitalization exercise was announced on March 28. As of that day, the NGX Banking Index stood at 1,029.63 points. Since then, the entire market has dropped by 6.11%, which has contributed to a run of losses in the NGX due to the persistently negative performance of banking companies.
As multiple banks prepare for rights issue initiatives, the responses of shareholders are yet unknown. Concerns have also been raised over the NGX’s ability to raise up to N3 trillion through the issue of additional shares.
Highlights of SWOOTs
The price of shares worth over a trillion naira (SWOOTs) remained unchanged, as it does most days. MTN Nigeria gained 2.86%, while GTCO and Zenith Bank lost 1.38% and 3.05%, respectively.
Nevertheless, no pricing increases were reported during the day by Transcorp Power, Seplat, Geregu Power, BUA Foods, BUA Cement, Dangote Cement, and Airtel Africa.
