The Nigerian Exchange’s All-Share Index dipped by 0.05 percent on Thursday, marking five consecutive days of decline. Driven by sell-offs in key stocks, market capitalization fell by 0.05 percent. Investor sentiment remains low, with weak trading activity and a majority of stocks declining.
On Thursday, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) witnessed a decline in its All-Share Index by 0.05 percent, concluding at 104,858.77 basis points. This marks the fifth consecutive day of a bearish trend, largely driven by sell-offs in major stocks such as Zenith Bank and Access Holdings. Consequently, the market capitalization decreased by 0.05 percent, equating to a loss of N35.3 billion in equity value by the end of the session.
The Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns have adjusted to -2.8 percent and +1.9 percent, respectively, indicating a shift in investor sentiment, as reflected in the negative market breadth with only 14 stocks advancing as opposed to 28 decliners. Among the gainers were Computer Warehouse Group, Veritas Capital, and Wapic Insurance, while leading the declines were Livestock Feeds and UACN Property Development Company.
Sectoral performance was largely unchanged, with modest gains in the Insurance and Consumer Goods sectors, which rose by 0.13 percent and 0.39 percent, respectively. Conversely, the banking sector faced a decline of 0.43 percent, while the Oil/Gas, Industrial Goods, and Commodity sectors remained stable. Trading activity was notably subdued, with reductions in the number of deals, transaction volume, and transaction value, decreasing by 15.23 percent, 77.28 percent, and 49.51 percent, respectively.
In total, the trading session recorded 10,182 transactions with a total value of N6.25 billion and a volume of 310.53 million units traded. Fidelity Bank emerged as the most traded stock by volume, with 40.03 million units, while Zenith Bank topped the value chart at N1.07 billion.
In summary, the Nigerian equities market is currently experiencing a significant downturn, characterized by a continuous decline in the All-Share Index over five days. The overall market sentiment appears weak, as evident from the trading statistics and performance across various sectors. Despite some minor gains in select stocks, the overall trend suggests caution among investors.
Original Source: www.zawya.com
