Equities investors on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) experienced a significant loss of over N403 billion on Monday, primarily due to sell-side pressures on banking stocks among other decliners. The market opened trading activities for the new week on a negative note, with key performance indicators dropping by 0.72% and the year-to-date return moderating to 30.90%.
Sell-side pressures were observed on some blue-chip stocks, including BUACEMENT, UCAP, FIDELITYBK, ACCESSCORP, TRANSCORP, ZENITHBANK, GTCO, UBA, and others. This led to a dip in the NGX All-Share Index by 710.37 basis points, closing at 97,881.75. Despite the market’s breadth closing positively, the index was dragged down by profit-taking activities in several medium- and large-cap stocks.
Market activities saw an increase, with total volume and total value traded rising by 4.36% and 44.11%, respectively, amidst portfolio rebalancing efforts. Approximately 498.27 million units valued at ₦11,770.86 million were transacted across 10,645 deals, according to Atlass Portfolios Limited’s market update.
GTCO emerged as the most traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 24.89% of the total volume traded on the Nigerian Exchange on Monday. It was followed by VERITASKAP, ACCESSCORP, JAPAULGOLD, and UBA to complete the top 5 on the volume chart. With its size and price advantage as a market mover, GTCO also emerged as the most traded stock in value terms, accounting for 48.08% of the total value of trades on the exchange.
On the advancers’ chart, JBERGER and NASCON topped with a price appreciation of 10.00% each, followed by TOTAL, OANDO, DANGSUGAR, MAYBAKER, ETERNA, and twenty-one others. However, twenty stocks depreciated, with BUACEMENT being the top loser at -9.93%.
The market breadth closed positive, recording 28 gainers and 20 losers. The key sector performance was positive, with the Oil & Gas sector growing by +3.30%, followed by the Insurance sector gaining +2.05% and the consumer goods sector popping up by +1.00%. On the other hand, the industrial and Banking sectors dropped by 3.96% and 0.31%, respectively.
Overall, the equities market declined by ₦403.19 billion to close at ₦55.58 trillion on the first trading session of the new week. The sell-side pressures on banking stocks and other decliners contributed to this significant loss for investors.
