Equity market sheds N220bn amid sectoral downturn
The Nigerian Exchange opened the week on a bearish note as Nigerian Breweries and other major stocks dragged the market to a N220bn loss on Monday. The downturn reflected weak investor sentiment in the consumer and industrial goods sectors.
At the close of trading, the market capitalisation fell to N89.5tn from N89.72tn on Friday, while the All-Share Index shed 347.12 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 141,498.20. This represented a one-week loss of 0.11 per cent, despite a four-week gain of 0.35 per cent and a year-to-date growth of 37.48 per cent.
A total of 488.5m shares valued at N13.71bn were exchanged in 28,598 deals. This marked a 13 per cent improvement in volume, a two per cent improvement in turnover, and an 18 per cent rise in the number of deals compared with the previous trading session.
A total of 125 listed equities participated in trading, ending with 22 gainers and 28 losers. Royal Exchange led the gainers with a 9.8 per cent increase to close at N2.24 per share. Secure Electronic Technology rose 6.67 per cent to N0.80, Chams gained 6.13 per cent to close at N3.29, and Prestige Assurance appreciated 5.75 per cent to N1.84, while Daar Communications added 5.66 per cent to close at N1.12 per share.
On the losing side, McNichols topped the chart with a 10 per cent decline to close at N3.33 per share. Ikeja Hotel followed with a loss of 9.8 per cent to close at N20.70, FTN Cocoa Processors shed 8.33 per cent to N5.50, Nigerian Breweries fell 7.64 per cent to N70.15, while Honeywell Flour Mills dropped 6.79 per cent to N20.60 per share.
Universal Insurance recorded the highest volume of traded shares at 79.6m, followed by Zenith Bank with 58.6m shares, Nigerian Breweries with 32.5m shares, and United Bank for Africa with 32m shares. In terms of value, Zenith Bank led with N3.86bn, followed by Nigerian Breweries at N2.4bn, Guaranty Trust Holding Company at N1.74bn, United Bank for Africa at N1.38bn, and MTN Nigeria at N277.6m.
