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NGX reverses gains as sell pressure in Airtel, NGXGroup ‘rob’ investors of N429b

By Helen Oji
06 January 2023   |   4:27 am
Following renewed sell pressure in many highly-capitalised stocks, especially Airtel Africa and Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup), the capital market halted two weeks gaining streak as market capitalisation declined by N429 billion.

[FILES] Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX). Photo/facebook/ngxgroup

Following renewed sell pressure in many highly-capitalised stocks, especially Airtel Africa and Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup), the capital market halted two weeks gaining streak as market capitalisation declined by N429 billion.

In summary. the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 789.04 absolute points, representing a drop of 1.53 per cent, to close at 50,868.52 points.
Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value shed N429 billion to close at N27.707 trillion.

The market loss was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Airtel Africa, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup), Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), University Press and NPF Microfinance Bank.

Analysts at United Capital Plc said “Looking forward, we anticipate robust market activity and bullish sentiments to continue briefly. The usual January momentum is likely to dominate in the near term, particularly as the yield environment appears to be shifting downwards.

“We believe investors are likely to continue to favour the equities market even in Q1, 2023, as we estimate total sovereign maturities in Q1, 2023 will print at N2.3 trillion, while total auctions (bonds and NT-bills) will likely hover around N1.7 trillion, creating excess liquidity of N555.2 billion. However, we see room for a brief bearish technical reversal in mid-January.”

Vetiva Dealing and Brokerage said: “We expect tomorrow’s session to end in the green as investors continue to take positions ahead of the full-year results. However, we do not rule out profit-taking in counters that have seen an upside in recent sessions.

“Also, given 75bps WTD loss, we expect the week to close out in the red barring any significant positive close in any of the heavyweights.”

However, investor sentiment as measured by market breadth closed positive, as 20 stocks advanced while 16 declined. John Holt recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at 88 kobo, per share. Honeywell Flour Mills followed with a gain of 9.95 per cent to close at N2.43, while Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) went up by 9.78 per cent to close at N1.01.

UAC of Nigeria (UACN) rose by 4.88 per cent to close at N10.75, while Nigerian Breweries gained 4.21 per cent to close at N47.

On the other hand, Prestige Assurance led the losers’ chart by 8.7 per cent to close at 42 kobo, per share. Airtel Africa followed with a decline of 8.26 per cent to close at N1, 500.00, while University Press lost 7.37 per cent to close at N1.76 kobo.

NPF Microfinance Bank lost 7.1 per cent to close at N1.57, while Royal Exchange shed 6.36 per cent to close at N1.03 kobo.

The total volume of trades decreased by 47.80 per cent to 138.716 million units, valued at N1.828 billion, and exchanged in 3,673 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Sterling Bank topped the activity chart with 29.154 million shares valued at N41.014 million. Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) followed with 19.946 million shares worth N477.768 million, while Access Holdings traded 11.348 million shares valued at N99.855 million.

FBN Holdings traded 10.994 million shares valued at N120.967 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 6.246 million shares worth N152.138 million.

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