Selling Pressure on Financial Stocks Shrinks NGX by 0.02%

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited remained in a danger zone on Wednesday after it closed marginally lower by 0.02 per cent on the back of selling pressure on financial stocks.

The sector reacted to the hike in the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 17.50 per cent on Tuesday by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to data obtained by Business Post, the insurance index depreciated by 0.69 per cent, and the banking space lost 0.34 per cent. The duo overshadowed the 0.34 per cent rise posted by the consumer goods sector, as the energy and industrial goods counters closed flat.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) reduced by 12.90 points to settle at 52,599.65 points compared with Tuesday’s 52,612.55 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N7 billion to close at N28.650 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N28.657 trillion.

However, investor sentiment was very strong in the midweek session, as there were 21 price gainers and 16 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth.

The trio of RT Briscoe, Tripple Gee, and Chellarams appreciated by 10.00 per cent each to close at 33 Kobo, 88 Kobo, and N1.65, respectively, as Okomu Oil gained 9.76 per cent to finish at N181.10, and Caverton rose by 8.42 per cent to N1.03.

But Thomas Wyatt lost 9.66 per cent to sell for N1.31, Cornerstone Insurance fell by 6.90 per cent to 54 Kobo, Geregu Power shrank by 5.90 per cent to N134.00, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 5.15 per cent to N2.21, and CWG went down by 4.26 per cent to 90 Kobo.

During the session, Mutual Benefits was the most active stock as it sold 11.3 million units, Transcorp exchanged 8.8 million units, Geregu Power traded 8.5 million units, FBN Holdings transacted 7.7 million units, and GTCO traded 6.7 million units.

At the close of business, investors transacted 119.8 million shares worth N2.7 billion in 3,552 deals, in contrast to the 182.4 million shares worth N4.8 billion exchanged in 3,470 deals, indicating a decline in the volume of transactions by 34.32 per cent, a drop in the value of trades by 43.75 per cent, and an increase in the number of deals by 2.36 per cent.