Market Loses N82bn as Investors Selloff Tier-1 Banking Stocks for Profit

By Dipo Olowookere

The bears extended their stay at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday after profit-taking by investors further weakened the platform by 0.27 per cent.

The banking space was the most hit yesterday as it depreciated by 1.34 per cent at the close of transactions due to selling pressure on GTCO, Zenith Bank, UBA, Ecobank and others.

Also, the industrial goods sector went down by 0.04 per cent during the session, offsetting the gains posted by the trio of insurance, energy and consumer goods counters. They respectively appreciated on Tuesday by 0.89 per cent, 0.25 per cent, and 0.12 per cent.

When the closing gong was struck at 2:30 pm yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 148.95 points to 54,035.39 points from 54,184.34 points and the market capitalisation was down by N82 billion to N29.436 trillion from N29.518 trillion.

A total of 296.7 million stocks worth N3.1 billion exchanged hands in 4,590 deals during the trading day, in contrast to the 292.6 million stocks worth N2.4 billion transacted in 4,408 deals in the preceding day. This showed that the trading volume, value and the number of deals increased by 1.40 per cent, 29.17 per cent, and 4.13 per cent apiece.

Transactions in Fidelity Bank equities topped the activity chart by volume with 46.6 million units, followed by Oando with 33.4 million units. Transcorp traded 30.7 million units, Axa Mansard exchanged 30.1 million units, while UBA sold 21.4 million units.

Investor sentiment remained very weak on Tuesday after the market breadth ended bearish with 21 price losers and 14 price gainers.

Multiverse topped the losers’ log after it declined by 9.88 per cent to N2.92, Eterna lost 8.94 per cent to settle at N5.60, ABC Transport fell by 8.82 per cent to 31 Kobo, NGX Group depreciated by 5.45 per cent to N26.00, and AIICO Insurance depleted by 5.00 per cent to 57 Kobo.

On the flip side, SCOA Nigeria had a positive price change of 10.00 per cent to finish at 99 Kobo, as NAHCO gained 9.55 per cent to quote at N9.75. Linkage Assurance grew by 9.09 per cent to 48 Kobo, Sunu Assurances improved by 8.51 per cent to 51 Kobo, and Coronation Insurance jumped by 8.11 per cent to 40 Kobo.