Sell-Offs Leave Customs Street Gasping for Breath as Index Sheds 0.91%

By Dipo Olowookere

The bears retained control of Customs Street on Monday after further inflicting pain on the platform, closing 0.91 per cent lower at the close of the first trading session of the week.

Analysis showed that all five major sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited suffered sell-offs during the trading day, with the industrial goods space most impacted after it fell by 2.90 per cent. The banking counter shrank by 1.40 per cent, the insurance segment lost 0.89 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.16 per cent, and the energy sector declined by 0.06 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) crumbled by 2,261.39 points to 245,278.34 points from 247,539.73 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N1.468 trillion to N159.257 trillion from N160.725 trillion.

Vitafoam Nigeria gave up 10.00 per cent of its value to close at N174.60, Cutix dropped 9.79 per cent to quote at N2.12, Omatek dipped by 9.37 per cent to N1.45, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N2.02, and Linkage Assurance tumbled by 6.29 per cent to N1.64.

On the flip side, Multi-Trex Integrated Foods gained 10.00 per cent to settle at 66 Kobo, CMFC expanded by 9.97 per cent to N3.64, Austin Laz improved by 9.93 per cent to N3.21, Thomas Wyatt grew by 9.92 per cent to N2.66, and Neimeth chalked up 5.88 per cent to trade at N8.10.

Business Post reports that investor sentiment was weak yesterday, as there were 15 price gainers and 40 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.

A look at the activity log revealed that market participants bought and sold 349.4 million stocks worth N18.0 billion in 43,193 deals during the session compared with the 257.7 million stocks valued at N13.1 billion transacted in 32,032 deals last Friday, representing an increase in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 35.58 per cent, 37.41 per cent, and 34.84 per cent, respectively.

The most active equity was Access Holdings, with a turnover of 23.4 million units valued at N658.4 million. Livestock Feeds traded 23.1 million units worth N40.3 million, UBA sold 22.8 million units for N959.1 million, Honeywell Flour exchanged 22.2 million units worth N393.7 million, and GTCO transacted 14.4 million units valued at N1.8 billion.