Nigerian Stocks Start July Bearish With 0.04% Loss

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading day in July and the second half of 2024 at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited finished on a wrong note after the bears made a quick return to the space.

Nigerian stocks lost 0.04 per cent on Monday on the back of renewed profit-taking witnessed across the major sectors of the bourse, with the insurance counter the worst hit after it closed lower by 1.17 per cent.

Business Post reports that the consumer goods space depreciated by 0.11 per cent, the banking sector went down by 0.08 per cent, and the energy index shrank by 0.01 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) moderated by 36.66 points to 100,020.83 points from 100,057.49 points and the market capitalisation contracted by N21 billion to settle at N56.581 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N56.602 trillion.

The market breadth index for the day was also negative after 28 shares ended on the losers’ chart and 20 shares closed on the gainers’ log, implying a weak investor sentiment.

eTranzact suffered the heaviest loss after it went down by 10.00 per cent to sell for N4.50, Fidson declined by 9.70 per cent to N13.50, Cornerstone Insurance depreciated by 9.52 per cent to N1.90, Lasaco Assurance crumbled by 9.41 per cent to N2.31, and UPDC REIT slumped by 8.26 per cent to N5.00.

On the flip side, Linkage Assurance appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1.10, Africa Prudential grew its value by 9.76 per cent to N9.00, Unity Bank jumped by 9.74 per cent to N1.69, Coronation Insurance chalked up 8.96 per cent to quote at 73 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance advanced by 8.89 per cent to 49 Kobo.

Yesterday, investors traded 274.7 million stocks worth N3.7 billion in 10,112 deals compared with the 509.7 million stocks worth N9.9 billion traded in 7,945 deals in the previous trading day, indicating a growth in the number of deals by 27.28 per cent, and a fall in the trading volume and value by 46.11 per cent and 62.63 per cent, respectively.

The most active equity during the trading session was United Capital with 26.6 million units sold for N737.3 million, Linkage Assurance transacted 23.9 million units worth N26.3 million, AIICO Insurance traded 14.2 million units valued at N14.3 million, CWG exchanged 11.5 million units for N89.4 million, and Universal Insurance sold 11.1 million units for N4.0 million.