Business a.m
The bears continued to dominate the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), sending the All-Share Index (ASI) down by 0.86 per cent to 101,227.42 points at the end of Thursday’s trading,a continuation of the downward trend seen in the previous trading session.
The losses in top banking stocks such as Zenith Bank, UBA, and Access Bank outweighed the gains made by Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), causing the market to close in the red. The share prices of Zenith Bank and UBA dropped by 2.17 per cent and 2.58 per cent, respectively, while Access Bank’s share price fell by 3.58 per cent. In contrast, GTCO’s share price increased by 1.91 per cent, but this was not enough to offset the losses from the other banks.Â
As a result of the sell-off, the Nigerian stock market is set to record its first weekly loss of the year. Year-to-date (YTD) returns have slipped to 35.38 per cent, down from the previous week’s level of 36.02 per cent. This has been driven by the market capitalisation shedding N480.78 billion to close at N55.39 trillion.
The volume and value of trades on the Nigerian stock market increased significantly on Thursday’s trading session compared to the previous session. 478.38 billion shares were traded, representing a 11.97 per cent increase from the previous session’s figure. The value of these trades also increased by a similar margin, reaching N7.17 billion.Â
UNIVINSURE emerged as the most traded stock by volume, with 42.77 million shares changing hands. Meanwhile, ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by value, with transactions worth N1.12 billion.Â
Market breadth, which measures the overall direction of the market, was negative at a ratio of 8.33-to-1, with declining stocks heavily outnumbering advancing stocks.The biggest decliner was STERLINGNG, which fell by 10.00 per cent. On the other hand, MEYER emerged as the top performer, rising by 9.97 per cent.Â
