Equity market opens negative with N93bn loss

The Nigerian equity market started the week on a negative note, losing N93 billion due to sell-offs in MTN Nigeria, Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), and other declining stocks.

Specifically, the market capitalisation, which opened at N55.497 trillion, shed N93 billion or 0.17 per cent to close at N55.404 trillion.

Also, the All-Share Index dropped by 0.17 per cent or 163 points to settle at 97,582.41, compared to 97,745.73 posted on Friday.

As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return decreased to 30.50 per cent.

Market breadth closed negative with 25 laggards compared to 23 gainers on the floor of the Exchange.

On the losers’ table, Chams led by 22k to close at N1.98, UPL trailed by 24k to close at N2.18, while The Initiative Plc lost 18k to close at two Naira per share.

Omatek also decreased by 5k to close at 56k and Champion went down by 25k to close at N3.01 per share.

On the other side, International Breweries led the gainers’ table by 42k to close at N4.62, Presco Plc followed by N44.10 to close at N485.10 per share.

Sovereign Trust Insurance rose by 5k to close at 55k, United Capital gained N1.20 to close at N13.35 and Oando advanced by N2.50 to close at N27.80 per share.

Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 57.36 per cent.

A total of 324.02 million shares valued at N6.22 billion were exchanged in 9,738 deals, against 210.91 million shares valued at N3.95 billion that exchanged hands in 6,603 deals recorded in the previous session.

Meanwhile, Zenith Bank led the volume and value charts, with 36.99 million shares worth N1.33 billion.

Ahead of the week, analysts at Cowry Asset Management Ltd., forecast a mixed trend with a possibility of profit-taking at the Nigerian stock market.

The analysts said that investors were likely to engage in sectoral rotation, capitalising on stocks that experienced pullbacks to position themselves strategically.

They said that this rotation strategy was expected to create buying opportunities, especially in anticipation of upcoming releases and dividend announcements from major banking institutions in the corporate reporting season.

“As the market structure and fundamentals evolve, investors are advised to position themselves in stocks with sound fundamentals to navigate the prevailing conditions effectively,” the analysts advised.