By Dipo Olowookere
Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited turned bearish on Monday following renewed profit-taking by investors.
The local bourse closed lower by 1.24 per cent on the first trading session of the week due to fresh selling pressure triggered by mixed feelings about the macroeconomic environment.
Investors were not too impressed with Nigeria’s outing at the G20 Summit in India.
President Bola Tinubu was invited to the programme by the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi. He disclosed that the group needed Nigeria because it is incomplete without the presence of the largest economy in Africa as a member.
“Nigeria is poised, able and willing to be a major player in this family of the G-20 and in shaping a new world, without whom the family will remain incomplete,” Mr Tinubu said.
The G20 is a group of the 20 most industrialised countries in the world, accounting for over 70 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP).
Back at the stock market, traders were not impressed by Mr Tinubu’s comments, and they sold off some of the equities in their portfolios across the sectors, leading to the decline in the All-Share Index (ASI) by 847.16 points to 67,296.18 points from 68,143.34 points, and a fall in the market capitalisation by N463 billion to N36.832 trillion from N37.295 trillion.
Business Post reports that the banking, insurance, consumer goods, industrial goods, and energy counters went down by 6.11 per cent, 2.07 per cent, 1.45 per cent, 0.28 per cent, and 0.10 per cent apiece.
This left the bourse with 16 price gainers and 43 price losers, indicating a weak investor sentiment and a negative market breadth index.
eTranzact, Secure Electronic Technology and NASCON led the laggards’ group after they shed 10.00 per cent each to settle at N9.00, 27 Kobo, and N52.20 apiece, Dangote Sugar lost 9.98 per cent to close at N57.75, and Learn Africa depreciated by 9.86 per cent to quote at N3.29.
Conversely, Northern Nigerian Flour Mills topped the advancers’ table after it improved by 9.96 per cent to N13.25, Oando increased by 9.74 per cent to N8.45, CWG grew by 9.00 per cent to N6.30, NPF Microfinance Bank appreciated by 8.20 per cent to N1.98, and RT Briscoe appreciated by 7.32 per cent to 44 Kobo.
Yesterday, traders bought and sold 520.1 million shares worth N8.3 billion in 9,914 compared with the 483.5 million shares valued at N8.3 billion traded in 6,660 deals last Friday, showing that the trading volume and the number of deals rose by 7.57 per cent and 48.86 per cent apiece, and the trading value closed flat.
UBA was the busiest stock for selling 73.9 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 57.7 million units worth N957.3 million, Transcorp traded 52.7 million units valued at N331.5 million, Zenith Bank transacted 43.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, and FBN Holdings sold 26.6 million units for N480.8 million.
