By Dipo Olowookere
The first trading session of August 2024 at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended bearish on Thursday amid fears of civil unrest over hunger-induced anger in the country.
The much-talked-about August 1 nationwide protests commenced yesterday and the fear of the unknown weakened the stock market by 0.42 per cent at the close of business.
Most businesses did not open their doors because they feared that the demonstrations could turn violent, as they turned out to be in Kano, Kaduna, Borno, and Yobe States, where looting and killings occurred.
Some brokerage firms in Lagos and others operated remotely during the session as they monitored happenings across the nation.
This took a toll on the equity market on Thursday, with the trading volume, value and number of deals declining by 69.26 per cent, 63.20 per cent, and 37.12 per cent, respectively.
Business Post reports that investors transacted 565.1 million shares worth N8.5 billion in 6,821 deals compared with the 1.8 billion shares valued at N23.1 billion traded in 10,847 deals on Wednesday.
Fidelity Bank exchanged 372.9 million equities for N4.0 billion to top the activity chart, UBA traded 23.0 million shares valued at N458.1 million, Zenith Bank transacted 19.2 million stocks worth N651.4 million, Oando sold 19.0 million equities for N445.4 million, and Access Holdings traded 15.8 million stocks valued at N289.6 million.
Despite the loss recorded by the NGX yesterday, investor sentiment was bullish after the bourse ended with 22 price gainers and 19 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index.
United Capital gained 9.95 per cent to sell for N11.05, Cutix grew by 9.94 per cent to N5.64, Africa Prudential expanded by 9.94 per cent to N9.40, Tantalizers advanced by 9.52 per cent to 46 Kobo, and UPDC REIT chalked up 8.99 per cent to close at N4.85.
On the other side of the divide, Mecure Industries depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N8.15, Thomas Wyatt shed 9.74 per cent to N1.76, Coronation Insurance lost 8.24 per cent to trade at 78 Kobo, Oando slumped by 8.00 per cent to N23.00, and Dangote Sugar crumbled by 7.67 per cent to N34.30.
The banking and industrial goods sectors appreciated during the session by 0.42 per cent, and 0.01 per cent, respectively, while the consumer goods, insurance and energy counters went down by 0.55 per cent, 0.18 per cent, and 0.05 per cent apiece.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) moderated by 414.46 points to 97,359.76 points from 97,774.22 points and the market capitalisation contracted by N236 billion to N55.278 trillion from N55.514 trillion.
Adedapo Adesanya