Equities market sheds N1.38trn amid profit-taking pressure

The Nigerian equities market opened the week on a negative note on Monday, as market capitalisation dropped significantly by N1.375 trillion, or 1.07 per cent.

The downturn was primarily driven by losses in key stocks, including Consolidated Hallmark Holdings, Deap Capital Management, GTCO, International Energy Insurance, Nigerian Breweries, and 18 others.

This reflects post-holiday profit-taking in the local equities market.

Specifically, market capitalisation closed at N127.750 trillion, compared to the opening value of N129.125 trillion.

Similarly, the All-Share Index declined by 2,142.84 points, or 1.07 per cent, to close at 199,014.02, down from 201,156.86 recorded on March 18, the last trading day of the previous week.

Consequently, the Year-to-Date return dropped to 27.89 per cent.

In spite of the negative performance, market breadth closed positive, with 43 gainers and 23 losers.

Presco led the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent increase, settling at N1,871.20.

Zochis Agro-Allied Industries followed with a 9.91 per cent gain to close at N9.43, while John Holt rose by 9.70 per cent to N13 per share.

Similarly, Premier Paints advanced by 9.62 per cent to N25.65, and Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.45 per cent to close at N1.39 per share.

On the losers’ chart, Consolidated Hallmark Holdings led with a 9.64 per cent decline, closing at N4.50.

Deap Capital Management fell by 8.37 per cent to N5.91, while GTCO dropped by 8.18 per cent to N105 per share.

International Energy Insurance also declined by 7.67 per cent to N2.77, and Nigerian Breweries shed 7.28 per cent to close at N70 per share.

Analysis of market activity showed an increase in the number of deals, but a decline in both value and volume, as 848.8 million shares worth N53.3 billion were traded across 139,458 transactions.

This contrasts with 6.06 billion shares valued at N130.1 billion exchanged in 58,562 deals on March 18.

Meanwhile, United Bank for Africa recorded the highest trading volume, with 114.17 million shares, accounting for 13.45 per cent of total volume traded for the day.

MTN Nigeria posted the highest value of trades at N17.45 billion, representing 32.72 per cent of the day’s total value.