Analysts point to mixed trading after investors lost N57bn on sell pressures

BY CHARLES ABUEDE

It was a week of sell-side action across the local equities market as broad based losses saw the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) lose 0.023 percent week on week to close at 46,842.86 points with market investors losing a total of N57.5 billion from the five sessions recorded last week. The week, though, closed out bearish as sell-side interest overshadowed demand with trades in the banking sector inspiring market activity in the face of the mixed sentiment in that space.

This week, market analysts expect another mixed sectoral performance to start off the new month amid further slight recoveries in the banking sector.

Finding its way into the first trading day of April, the Nigerian Equities Market reversed the previously recorded gains to close the last trading session of the week on a negative note amidst the outcome of financial year results. As a result, the NGX All-share index plunged further to stand at 46,842.86 basis points, dragging both the month-to-date and year-to-date performance of the All-Share Index to stand at -0.26 percent and 9.66 percent, respectively.

Also, the market capitalization followed the direction of the ASI to stand at N25.253 trillion, representing a 0.23 percent drop from the N25.312 trillion it stood at the start of the week. Thus, the bears maintained dominance over the market breadth with 37 counters in the losers’ chart rutted against 12 counters in the gainers’ chart.

NAHCO gained 10 percent to become the best performing stock in the session, as it was flanked by Multiverse, Meyer Pharmaceuticals, Fidelity Bank, and Japaul Gold populating the top five gainers’ chart. From the rear of the chart, Red Star Express sheds the most weight to lead the laggards’ chart as it was flanked by Total Energies, Conoil Plc, Cutix Plc, and Scoa to complete the top losers’ chart.

Across the sectorial front, most sectoral indices closed in the same direction with the ASI, save for banking sector that inched up by 0.02 percent while the level of market activity as measured by volume of trades gained weight at the end of the trading session as the daily traded volume stood at 257.3 million units, representing a marginal increase of 0.51 percent from a volume of 256.02 million units traded in the previous session.

UBA controlled the volume charts as the top traded stock by volume for the trading session followed by Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, GTCO, and Access Bank Holdings to complete the list of the five most traded stocks by volume.

On the flipside, the value of traded stocks however waned by 21.77 percent in the session to stand at N2.863 billion as against a value of N3.7 billion recorded in the previous trading session. With regards to the value of traded stocks, Zenith Bank took the lead of the top five performers as well, and was flanked by UBA, MTN Nigeria, GTCO, and lastly Total Energies.

On the NGX 30 Index, it decreased by 0.39 percent to close at 1,784.11 points as against 1,791.07 points at the previous close. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 180.82 million units. Fidelity Bank and International Breweries were the key gainers, while Total Energies and Okomu Oil were the key losers.