The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) started the week on a bearish note as investors saw a N220 billion market capitalization drop after price drops in 28 listed stocks.
The drop emphasized a wary trading attitude ahead of significant economic decisions expected later in the week.
The market capitalization fell from N89.744 trillion to N89.524 trillion at the conclusion of trading, showing a 0.24 percent decline. Likewise, the All-Share Index fell by 347.12 basis points, closing at 141,498.22 points versus the 141,845.34 points from the previous session.
The News Chronicle gathered that underperformance in mid- and large-cap equities like Oando, Nigerian Breweries, Honeywell Flour, GTCO, UBA, UACN, and Ikeja Hotel largely fueled the sell-offs. Despite some gains in certain equities, analysts noted that these drops had a great impact on the general mood of the market.
Though trading volume increased, market breadth was still negative with 28 losers against 21 winners. From 435.23 million shares in the previous session, the trading volume increased 12.25 percent to 488.56 million shares. Nevertheless, the value of trades dropped by 9.32%, finishing at N13.72 billion.
Also bearish sectoral performance included consumer goods, oil and gas, banking, and insurance indexes dropping 0.8 percent, 0.5 percent, 0.3 percent, and 0.1 percent, respectively. Closing flat, the industrial products index showed no noticeable fluctuation.
Leading the charts of the gainers was Royal Exchange, whose 9.8 percent increase to N2.24 was followed by NSLTECH’s 6.67 percent gain. Among other prominent winners were Chams Plc, Prestige Insurance, and Daar Communications. McNichols, on the other hand, lost the maximum 10% to N3.33, while Ikeja Hotel fell 9.8%.FTN Cocoa, Nigerian Breweries, and Honeywell Flour also registered significant declines.
With 79.56 million shares traded worth N95.07 million, Universal Insurance ruled transactions. Zenith Bank came next with 58.6 million shares valued at N3.86 billion, although Significant contributions to total trade volume also came from NSLTECH, UBA, and Nigerian Breweries.
Looking forward, analysts anticipate trading to be restrained as investors wait for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting’s results, expected to provide directions on important policy decisions affecting market mood.
