Kehinde Akinseinde-Jayeoba
Equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited sustained negative momentum into the new week as its All-Share Index (ASI) went lower 2.08 per cent to close at 53,750.77 basis points amid sustained profit-taking activities.
Activities in the Nigerian equities market picked up from where they left off last week as sell pressures on MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa as the communication giants lose 1.3 per cent and 8.3 per cent, respectively.
Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -3.7 per cent and +4.9 per cent, respectively.
Equities investors, therefore, lost N621.99 billion as the market capitalisation settled at N29.28 trillion at Monday’s end of trading activities.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 21 tickers lost relative to 5 gainers. On the performance board, NCR and Unity Bank topped the losers’ list after their respective share prices dipped by 9.8 per cent and 9.4 per cent, respectively, while Courtville and NPF MicroFinance Bank recorded the highest gains of the day having appreciated in value by 6.7 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.
The general market bearish mood was reflected in the sectoral performance as all five sub-gauges closed in the red – the NGX Banking, NGX Insurance, NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Oil/Gas, and the NGX Industrial indexes declined by 0.23 per cent, 0.55 per cent, 0.79 per cent, 2.02 per cent, and 0.14 per cent respectively.
In the broad and narrow markets, the NGX Premium, NGX Mainboard, and NGX-30 indices decreased by 77 basis points, 304 basis points, and 197 basis points, respectively.
Analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 12.11 per cent. A total of 100.88 million shares valued at N4.34 billion were exchanged in 3,279 deals. Guaranty Trust Holding Company led the volume chart with 12.84 million units traded, while MTN Nigeria Communication led the value chart in deals worth N1.93 billion.
