Nigerian capital market performance was given a major drag on Thursday by sharp falls in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank, International Breweries and Zenith Bank.
The three stocks lost 6.7 percent, 10 percent and 3.1 percent respectively at the close of trading for the day. Investor sentiments appeared to have weakened further overall with 21 stocks declining as against the 10 stocks that posted gains. It brought the All-Share Index (ASI) down 0.8 percent to sustained the previous day’s market outcome.
The benchmark index settled at 32,108.92 points while year-to-date loss worsened to -16.7 percent. The market capitalisation consequently fell by N89.1 billion toclose at N11.6 trillion.
Meyer, UAC Properties and International Breweries recorded the highest losses, shedding 10 percent a-piece while the gainers’ chart was topped by Jaiz Bank, Japaul and Unity Bank of Nigeria. They gained 7.5 percent, 5 percent and 4.1 percent respectively.
Activity level was however mixed as value traded declined by 1.8 percent to N2.5 billion while volume traded increased by 52.3 percent to 349.2 million units.
Top traded stocks by value were Stanbic (N724.7m), GTB (N423.5m) and Zenith Bank (N219.3m) while FCMB (34.7m), Stanbic (15.1m) and UBA (13.6m) were the top traded stocks by volume.
Across sectors, performance reflected the bearish sentiments for the day as 4 of 5 major indices closed in the red.
The banking index led the sectoral losers with a loss of 3.3 percent on sell-offs in GTB, Zenith and UBA while the industrial goods index weakened by 0.4 percent following losses in Lafarge Wapco. Similarly, the insurance and oil & gas indices slid 0.1 percent each due to price depreciation in AIICO Insurance and 11 Plc (Mobil). The consumer goods index was the sole gainer, advancing 0.5 percent as gains in Nestle, Nigerian breweries and Dangote Sugar buoyed the index.
On account of the bearish trend, the domestic bourse is expected to end the trading week in the red, analysts at Afrinvest have predicted.
