July downturn extends into August as investors lose N93 billion

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) may have extended July downturn into the current month as losses suffered by many bluechip stocks, especially MTN Nigeria wiped out gains recorded last Friday, causing market capitalisation to dip by N93 billion. At the close of transactions yesterday, investors fortunes declined by N93 billion, due to heavy share price losses incurred by MTN Nigeria and 24 stocks.

The All-Share Index (ASI) lost 163.32 points, representing a decline of 0.17 per cent to close at 97,582.41 points. Also, market capitalisation declined by N92 billion to close at N55.405 trillion.

The downturn was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst, which are; MTNN, Nigerian Exchange Group, May & Baker Nigeria, Champion Breweries and University Press.

Analysts at United Capital Plc said the equities market is expected to show mixed performance as investors adopt opportunistic investment strategies.

“We foresee selective buying of fundamentally strong stocks continuing into the upcoming week. Market activity is anticipated to remain elevated due to ongoing banks’ recapitalization efforts, Q2 filings, and corporate actions in the near term.

“Conversely, elevated interest rates in the fixed income market are likely to exert a negative pressure on the equities market as investors capitalize on higher fixed income yields. Overall, fund managers and investors are advised to maintain an opportunistic approach to capitalize on prevailing market opportunities.”

Further breakdown of market activities yesterday, showed that Chams shed 10 per cent in volume terms to close at N1.98, per share. University Press followed with a decline of 9.92 per cent to close at N2.18, while The Initiates Plc (TIP) shed 8.26 per cent to close at N2.00, per share.

Omatek Ventures declined by 8.20 per cent to close at 56 kobo, while Champion Breweries dipped by 7.67 per cent to close at N3.01, per share. However, International Breweries, Presco and Sovereign Trust Insurance emerged the highest price gainer of 10 per cent each to close at N4.62, N485.10 and 55 kobo respectively, per share. United Capital and Oando followed with a gain of 9.88 per cent each to close at N13.35 kobo and N27.80 respectively, while Honeywell Flour Mills rose by 9.74 per cent to close at N3.83 kobo.

The total volume traded increased by 53.63 per cent to 324.02 million units, valued at N6.218 billion, and exchanged in 9,738 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank led the activity with 36.993 million shares worth N1.331 billion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with account of 34.974 million shares valued at N708.48 million, while Veritas Kapital Assurance traded 25.506 million shares valued at N23.309 million. Oando traded 20.282 million shares worth N552.493 million, while Access Holdings traded 18.835 million shares worth N350.503 million.