The Nigerian bourse, NGX, shed N65.8 billion as trading activities on the market watered-down on Thursday; and this was evidenced in sell-offs in Ardova Plc, MTN Nigeria, Wema Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, and Zenith Bank, which shed 6.25 percent, 1.75 percent, 1.11 percent, 1.23 percent and 0.41 percent, respectively, after the market took a breather from its previous days rally.
As a result, the All-Share Index declined by 0.32 percent to 38,801.51 points while the market year to date loss worsened to -3.6 percent, and the market capitalization fell in value to N20.22 trillion from N20.28 trillion.
Trading activity level was mixed with traded volume falling by 32.2 percent to 139.8 million units, while traded value rose by 31.7 percent to N1.4 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were UBA (16.4m units), GTBank (13.0m units), and Zenith Bank (11.9m units), while GTBank (N364.9m), Zenith Bank (N291.6m), and UBA (N123.5m) led by value.
With the uneven level of activity, the performance across the sectorial front was also mixed with three indices down, while three gained. The ICT index led the losers’ gang, down 1.0 percent due to sell-offs in MTN Nigeria (-1.8%). Trailed by the banking and oil & gas indices which fell by 30 basis points and 4 basis points respectively due to price depreciation in Access Bank (-1.1%), GTBank (-1.2%), Oando plc (-0.2%), and Ardova Plc (-6.3%).
On the flip side, across the sectors, the consumer goods index led the gainers’ table, up 0.3 percent due to gains in Dangote Sugar (+1.4%), Unilever Plc (+0.7%), and Honeywell Flour (3.9%). In the same way, the insurance and industrial goods indices advanced by 25 basis points and four basis points respectively, on the back of bargain hunting in Mutual Benefits Assurance (+5.6%), Sovereign Trust Insurance (+7.7%), and Lafarge Africa (+0.7%).
As measured by the breadth of the market, investors sentiment strengthened to 1.2x from 0.9x recorded in the last trading session as 18 stocks advanced while 15 stocks declined. Conoil Plc (+10.0%), Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc (+8.9%), and Sovereign Trust Insurance (+7.7%) led gainers, while Ardova Plc (-6.2%), Veritas Kapital Assurance (-4.0%), and Aiico Insurance (-2.1%) led decliners.
