Selling pressure on Cadbury, Transcorp, others, drags NGX cap down N394bn

Onome Amuge

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) experienced  a second consecutive contraction in market capitalisation on Tuesday, amounting to over N394 billion, as a result of selling pressure on notable stocks such as Cadbury, Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), and Access Holdings Plc, among others.

The domestic bourse closed Tuesday’s trading session on a downtrend, with key performance indicators plunging by 0.66 percent. 

In a similar treend, the All-Share Index (NGX-ASI) shed 650.83 basis points, closing at 98,058.07 points.

The downward slide in the Nigerian stock market continued for the second day in a row, with investors offloading shares of medium and large-cap companies, including Cadbury, Aradel, Transcorp, and more. This sell-off intensified the previous day’s losses, creating a bearish trend across the market.

In contrast, market activities showed a positive uptick as both the total volume and total value traded for the day recorded healthy gains of 13.06 percent and 96.08 percent respectively.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) emerged as the star performer in Tuesday’s market activity, dominating both the volume and value of traded stocks on the Nigerian Exchange platform. UBA accounted for 22.71 percent of the total volume of trades, trailed by other volume drivers such as CHAMS Plc (20.25%), Transnational Corporation (7.96%), Zenith Bank (5.74%), and Access Holdings Plc (3.95%).

UBA’s dominance was even more evident in the value of trades, representing 29.26 percent of the total value transacted on the exchange for the day.

NNFM took the lead among the gainers for the day, with its share price appreciating 10.00 percent, followed closely by EUNISELL, which registered a price surge of 9.87 percent.

other stocks that chalked up gains during Tuesday’s trading session were TIP (9.81% increase), LIVESTOCK (7.73% increase), CWG (4.96% increase), NEIMETH (4.79% increase), and nineteen others.

Conversely, 32 stocks declined during the session

Cadbury’s stock emerged as the biggest loser of the day, shedding 9.89 percent of its value in Tuesday’s session. Other notable decliners included ROYALEX (-9.72%), ARADEL (-8.33%), Transnational Corporation (-7.41%), Access Holdings Plc (-4.65%), and Zenith Bank (-2.26%).

According to data provided by stockbrokers, the Nigerian Exchange’s market breadth recorded a negative close on Tuesday, with 25 gainers and 32 losers.

The negative market breadth was further compounded by the fact that three out of the five major market sectors closed in the red,

The Banking sector led the decline among the major market sectors, shedding 1.46 percent of its value, followed by the Industrial sector, which contracted by 0.33 percent. 

The Consumer Goods sector also saw a marginal decline of 0.01 percent, while the Insurance and Oil & Gas sectors retreated by 0.18 percent and 0.03 percent respectively.

The cumulative effect of these losses resulted in a N394.37 billion decline in the market capitalization of the Nigerian Exchange, bringing it to a total of N59.42 trillion by the end of Tuesday’s trading session.