By Chukwuma Umeorah
Owing to declining investors’ confidence in stocks, the overall market capitalization on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) declined by N300 billion in two days closing at N59.115 trillion from the N59.416 trillion at the close of trade in the previous week.
Following a bearish kickoff on Monday that saw the market decline by 0.40 per cent, the local equities market extended its downturn on Tuesday, shedding 0.11 per cent from its All-Share Index (ASI) and concluding at 104,553.31 basis points. Market capitalization took a hit, dropping to N59.115 trillion, while the Year-to-date (YTD) return settled at 39.97 per cent.
Yesterday’s downturn was primarily attributed to sell-offs in MTN Nigeria, Transcorp, Fidelity Bank, Daar Communications, GTCO, and 19 other stocks. Analysts at Futureview Research indicate that the recent inflation figures are likely to influence market performance for the week. “We anticipate a mixed performance in the upcoming trading session as investors digest new inflation data and await corporate actions within the equities market.”
According to the NBS Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for February released in Abuja last Friday, the nation’s headline inflation surged to 31.70 per cent from 29.90 per cent in the previous month, marking a 9.79 per cent increase over the 21.91 per cent recorded in the preceding year.
At the close of Tuesday’s trading session on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX), a total of 307.04 million units of shares, equivalent to a market value of N7.59 billion, were exchanged in 9,548 deals. Despite a 7 per cent uptick in trade volume and a 5 per cent rise in the number of deals, data from yesterday revealed a 30 per cent decline in turnover.
Market breadth remained positive, with 27 stocks gaining in value while 23 incurred losses. The top-performing stock for the day was International Energy Insurance Plc, which gained 10 per cent in value, closing at N1.32 per share. It was closely followed by International Breweries, adding 9.89 per cent and closing at N4.89, while JULI rose by 9.85 per cent, ending the day’s trade at N5.91 per share.
On the downside, Daar Communications led the decliners, depreciating by 9.86 per cent in value to close at N0.64 per share, followed by CWG, which lost 9.09 per cent, closing at N5.50 per share, while Sovereign Trust Insurance shed 8.51 per cent, ending the day at N0.43 per share.