Nigerian Stock Exchange Market Capitalisation Decline by N50.64 Billion

The Nigerian Stock Exchange started with a bearish return as stocks went down by N50.64 billion in market capitalisation following investors' profit-taking role in Nestle Nigeria Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, and 23 others. 

Market capitalisation finished yesterday at N55.811 trillion following a decline in trading of equities, which led to market capitalisation losing N50.64 billion from the N55.861 trillion it opened for the new trading week.

The NGX All-Share Index fell to 101,995.53 basis points, which signifies a decline of 0.09% or 92.77 basis points from 102,088.30 when the stock market opened for the new trading week.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 28 stocks gained relative to 25 stocks lost.

Top Gainers: NASCON Allied Industries led the chart with a 10% gain to close at N66.00 per share, followed by Juli with a gain of 9.83% to close at N2.57, while FBNH Holdings (FBNH) increased by 9.68% to close at N34.00 per share. Wapic Insurance gained 8.96% to close at 73 kobo, followed by DAAR Communications, which rose by 8.86% to close at 86 kobo per share.

Top Losers: Nestle Nigeria led the chart with a 10% decline to close at N990.00 per share, followed by Eterna with a decline of 9.97% to close at N15.80, while Fidson Healthcare dropped by 9.82% to close at N15.15 per share. CWG declined by 9.56% to close at N6.15, while SUNU Assurance declined by 9.09% to close at N1.90 per share.

The total volume traded advanced by 1.14% to 294.325 million units, valued at N6.723 billion, and exchanged in 9,957 deals. Transactions in the shares of FBNH topped the activity chart with 73.835 million shares valued at N2.416 billion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with 20.670 million shares worth N493.051 million, while Zenith Bank traded 20.625 million shares valued at N731.406 million.

Fidelity Bank traded 19.982 million shares valued at N205.396 million, while Veritas Kapital Assurance sold 12.320 million shares worth N8.965 million.

Discussing the stock market trading this week, United Capital Plc analysts said, 'We anticipate the bearish sentiments amongst investors to persist in the local equities market given the recent developments in the fixed-income market. The impact of the high yields in the fixed-income market will continue to drive sell-offs as investors switch their asset classes to less risky assets.

"Other headwinds to the equities market are the uncertainties surrounding interest rate decision and the possible 'HIKE' in Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at their meeting scheduled for the 26th and 27th February 2024."

After a mixed trading session last week, market analysts at the Nigerian capital market have still come to say that investors at the NGX should expect a bearish run, which will involve more portfolio selling as the market seeks catalyst and policy direction from economic managers to push positive sentiment.