NGX Investors Lose N638 BN to Close as Santa Claus Rally Ends

Investors at Nigerian Exchange Limited experienced their first loss of the year.

After the close of trading on Wednesday, the eighth consecutive day win experienced in the NGX market was cut short as a market capitalisation loss of N638bn to close at N44.885tn. This development comes a day after the market capitalisation crossed the N45 trillion milestone.

The NGX All-Share Index was above 80,000 points even after losing 1,167.46 points or 1.40%, to close at 82,024.38 at the close of Wednesday's trading session.

The loss experienced was due to the depreciation of major banking stocks. However, some banks were able to defy the odds, such as Jaiz Bank, which increased by 5.40% to settle at N2.93 and Stanbic IBTC Holdings, which finished flat.

The market capitalisation of Access Holdings Plc and First Bank of Nigeria Holdings declined from N1 trillion after the financial institutions crossed N1 trillion in market capitalisation each. At the close of the market on Wednesday, the market had a capitalisation of N989bn and N926bn, respectively.

This came a day after the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, questioned some banks’ managing directors over a fraud uncovered at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

The stocks of Transnational Corporation Plc, AccessCorp, United Bank for Africa, Jaiz Bank, and Zenith Bank were major drivers of yesterday's market.

Market Breadth, which measures investors’ sentiment, was negative, resulting in 13 gains and 61 losses.

Top Gainers: Cadbury Plc led with 9.92% to close at N19.95 per unit. Other gainers include VeritasKap, which gained 9.76% to close at N0.45, Linkage Assurance, which gained 8.70% to close at N1.50, Transcorp Hotel, which gained 7.24% to close at N100 per unit and Prestige Assurance, which gained 6% to close at N0.53 per unit.

Top Losers: Chams Holdings, Cornerstone Insurance, FTN Cocoa, May & Baker, Caverton, and Consolidated Hallmark Holding Plc lost 10% each to close at N2.16, N1.80, N1.98, N5.49, N2.07, and N1.35 per unit, respectively.

Stocks of Transcorp, AccessCorp, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc led the volume and value drivers of the day’s market trend.