Sell pressure on Stanbic and MTN Nigeria
Sell pressures on Stanbic IBTC Holdings and MTN Nigeria, on Thursday, triggered overall decline in the benchmark Index as these bellwethers dipped in share value by 3.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Bearish sentiment also dominated the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) as All-Share Index (ASI) succumbed to a second successive loss, falling by 0.18 per cent to close at 67,084.95 basis points.
Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns printed +1.1 percent and +30.9 percent, respectively.
Having shed 0.18 percent, equities investors lost N66.59 billion as the market capitalization settled lower at N36.86 trillion at the end of trading sessions at the local bourse.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative, as 29 tickers lost relative to 12 gainers. On the performance board, NSLTECH and CWG recorded the most significant losses of the day after their respective share prices dipped by 10.0 percent and 9.9 percent, while MC Nicholas and UACN topped the gainers’ list having appreciated in share value by 8.9 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively.
Across various sectors, negative sentiment prevailed, with two out of five tracked sectors closing in the red, two remaining muted, and only one sector experiencing gains.
The Banking and Insurance indexes suffered the most significant setbacks, declining by 0.33 percent and 1.82 percent, respectively. In contrast, the Consumer Goods sector managed a 0.12 per cent gain, while the Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indexes exhibited lull performances.
Activities at the Exchange were impressive on Thursday as analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 15.88 percent. A total of 267.65 million shares valued at N5.11 billion were exchanged in 5,205 deals.
Fidelity Bank led the volume chart with 39.83 million units traded, while Nestle Nigeria led the value chart in deals worth N1.75 billion.
