THE Nigerian exchange failed to reverse the negative trend as banking stocks plunged further. The stock market lost about N707 billion, causing year-to-date return to moderate. In two days, the exchange lost about N1.6 trillion to investors’ bearish mood.
Market data showed that Thursda’s pullback was a result of losses sustained by: FBNH (-9.82%), STANBIC (-10%), ETI (-9.94%), ACCESSCORP (-9.54%), GTCO (-5.56%), FIDELITY (-10%), and MTNN (-4.64%)
Equities research analysts at Futureview Financial Services Limited have earlier in the week signaled some banks have limited upside potential, keeping most of the tickers on either sell or at best hold recommendation.
Key performance indicators dipped by – 2.03%. Trading data showed that the Lagos bourse recorded a further decline in the benchmark NGX All-Share Index. The index fell by 203 basis points to settle at 62,748.94 points, a stark similar to Wednesday’s negative performance at 64,046.93 points.
At the end of the trading session, the year-to-date return moderated to 22.43%, as investors’ wealth was down by approximately ₦1.59 trillion in two days, Atlass Portfolios Limited said in its market update.
Stockbrokers said market activities were down following the trading pattern observed in the local bourse on Thursday. Total volume and total value traded dropped by -31.36% and -17.69% accordingly.
Approximately 798.47 million units valued at ₦10,449.33 million were transacted in 10,296 deals, stock market analysts said in a report to investors. UBA was the most traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 12.41% of the total volume of trade.
The Pan African lender was followed by FBNH (9.11%), TRANSCORP (8.62%), FCMB (8.51%), and GTCO (6.42%) to complete the top 5 on the volume chart. Due to size advantage, GTCO was the most traded stock in value terms, accounting for 16.95% of the total value of trades on the exchange.
JOHNHOLT topped the advancers’ chart for today with a price appreciation of 10.00 percent, trailed by DANGSUGAR (9.94%), NASCON (+9.91%), SKYAVN (+9.80%), GOLDBREW (+9.73%), and fourteen others.
Fifty-six stocks depreciated, data from the local exchange showed. TRANSCOHOT, FIDELITYBK, SOVRENINS, STANBIC, WEMABANK, and OMATEK were the top losers, with a price depreciation of -10.00% each.
UNITYBNK lost 9.94%, ETI dipped by 9.94% followed by STERLINGNG with a 9.92% decline in market price while UACN fell 9.91% and FBNH plunged 9.82%. With the bears’ grip, the market breadth closed largely negative, recording 19 gainers and 56 losers.
Also, market sector performance closed negative, as four of the five major market sectors were down. The Banking index slumped by 6.63% followed by the Insurance sector which slipped by 4.13%. The Oil & Gas index slowed down by 0.74%, the Consumer goods sector dipped by 0.09 while the Industrial index recorded a +0.69% uptick.
Overall, the equities market recorded a large daily loss of ₦706.77 billion, representing a drop of -2.03%, to close at ₦34,167.42 trillion from ₦34,874.19 trillion the previous day.
