Investors in the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) faced a N150 billion loss over the past week as bearish sentiment dominated the trading landscape, interrupting a series of consecutive weeks of gains.
The downturn was primarily attributed to profit-taking and the selling off of high-priced and blue-chip stocks.
Market analysts pointed out that investors also adopted a cautious approach due to the release of the latest inflation figure of 24.08 percent and its potential implications.
As a result, the NGX All Share Index experienced a 0.93 percent dip, closing the week at 64,721.09. The market capitalization also declined by 0.42 percent, reaching N35.422 trillion.
MTN Nigeria’s shares listing offsets losses
While the depreciation in market capitalization could have been more pronounced, the additional listing of MTN Nigeria’s shares helped offset the losses.
The listing, involving 641,047,053 units of ordinary shares of 2 Kobo at N232.68 each, resulted from a scrip dividend election scheme. This move raised the market capitalization by N13 billion by the end of the week.
The year-to-date returns stood at 26.89 percent by the close of the week’s trading. Various indices demonstrated mixed performance, with indices such as NGX Premium, NGX AFR. Div. Yield, NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Industrial Goods, NGX Growth, and NGX Sovereign Bond indices experiencing gains. Conversely, the NGX ASeM index closed unchanged.
Throughout the week, a total of 1.689 billion shares worth N29.407 billion were traded in 29,477 deals.
This represented a decrease compared to the previous week’s trading of 1.741 billion shares valued at N25.087 billion in 30,652 deals.
In terms of sectors, the Financial Services Industry led the activity chart by volume, with 1.166 billion shares valued at N16.925 billion traded in 13,819 deals.
This contributed 69.04 percent and 57.55 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
The Conglomerates Industry followed with 191.320 million shares worth N843.336 million in 1,829 deals, while the Oil & Gas Industry recorded a turnover of 64.352 million shares worth N810.637 million in 2,159 deals.
Gainers during the week included the Computer Warehouse Group, which saw a 25.83 percent gain in share value, Wema Bank with a 7.76 percent gain, and Transnational Corporation Plc, which appreciated by 6.94 percent. On the other hand, Sunu Assurances Nigeria Plc, Unity Bank, Eterna Plc, and UPDC were among the top losers.
