Helen Oji
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) halted gains to close on a downward note yesterday, as the All-share index (ASI) declined by 0.04 per cent amid losses in MTN Nigeria and 14 stocks.
Indeed, yesterday, the ASI declined by 43.27 points, which represented a decline of 0.04 per cent to close at 100,032.32 points. Accordingly, market capitalisation fell by N24 billion to close at N56.646 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; MTNN, NASCON Allied Industries, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Wema Bank and AXA Mansard Insurance.
Analysts at SCM Capital said: “Looking ahead, the equities market is expected to show mixed performance as investors adopt opportunistic investment strategies. We foresee selective buying of fundamentally sound stocks continuing into the upcoming week. Market activity is also anticipated to rise due to ongoing banks’ recapitalisation efforts, Q2 filings, and awaited corporate actions in the near term.”
Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage, said: “We expect investors to remain keen on names in the banking space, ahead of Q2’24 earnings and recapitalisation exercise. Meanwhile, there was a corporate action announcement from United Capital today; the company plans to pay out an interim dividend of 90 kobo per share and a bonus of two new shares for every 1. We expect this to stoke further buy-side action in the name from investors.”
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 28 stocks gained relative to 15 losers. United Capital recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N36.30, per share. Africa Prudential followed with a gain of 9.88 per cent to close at N8.90, while Cutix rose by 9.86 per cent to close at N6.13 kobo. Oando went up by 5.63 per cent to close at N16.90, while Julius Berger appreciated by 4.79 per cent to close at N87.50 kobo.
Unilever added 4.05 per cent to close at N18. FBN Holdings garnered 3.94 per cent to close at N23.75 kobo. Jaiz Bank gained 3.72 per cent to close at N2.23 kobo. United Bank for Africa also appreciated by 3.70 kobo to close at N23.85 kobo.
On the other hand, R.T. Briscoe Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 5.71 per cent to close at 66 kobo. FTN Cocoa Processors followed with a decline of 4.44 per cent to close at N1.72 kobo, while Tantalizer declined by 4.26 per cent to close at 45 kobo. Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals depreciated by 3.52 per cent to close at N1.64 kobo and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings declined by 3.45 per cent to close at N1.40 kobo.
Mansard lost 2.50 per cent to close at N5.07 kobo. Wema Bank depreciated by 2.26 per cent to close at N6.50 kobo. The Initiates Plc dropped 2.00 kobo to close at N1.96 kobo.
The total volume traded increased by 198.40 per cent to 1.009 billion units, valued at N10.076 billion, and exchanged in 8,720 deals. Transactions in the shares of Jaiz Bank topped the activity chart with 528.491 million shares valued at N1.145 billion.
Cutix followed with 194.644 million shares worth N1.193 billion, while Zenith Bank traded 77.752 million shares valued at N3.107 billion. Universal Insurance traded 36.263 million shares valued at N12.348 million, while FCMB sold 33.884 million shares worth N257.088 million.
