Bears Resurface As Equities Open Week With N289bn Loss

The Nigerian equities market yesterday opened the week on a negative note as losses in Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and 29 others dragged the overall capitalisation lower by N289 billion.
The All-Share Index declined by 511.02 points, representing a decline of 0.49 per cent, to close at 104,136.35 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value lost N289 billion to close at N58.880 trillion.
The market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Dangote Sugar Refinery, Transcorp Power, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) and FBNH Holdings (FBNH).

Looking ahead, United Capital Plc said, “we expect activities in the fixed income market to continue to stand as key demotivators for equities investments.
Also, the indications of hawkish stance by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its next meeting to be held on March 25 and March 26, 2024, in line with its inflation targeting framework, will continue to also cast a bearish spell across risk asset classes.

“However, given the level of activity by the bulls in the market, pending the release of the financial statements of some corporates (particularly the top tier banks), the dividend season and strong corporate resilience, we expect further bargain hunting for the rest of the week.”

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, closed negative as 20 stocks advanced, while 30 declined. Ellah Lakes recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N3.63, per share. Morison Industries followed with a gain of 9.93 per cent to close at N1.55 and SUNU Assurance up by 9.48 per cent to close at N1.27, per share.

Caverton Offshore Support Group rose by 9.38 per cent to close at N1.75, while Secure Electronic Technology gained 9.09 per cent to close at 60 kobo, per share.

On the other hand, Dangote Sugar Refinery and International Energy Insurance led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each to close at N53.10 and N1.35 respectively, while Jaiz Bank followed with a decline of 9.92 per cent to close at N2.18, per share.

Ikeja Hotels lost 9.72 per cent to close at N5.85, while DEAP Capital Management & Trust shed 9.52 per cent to close at 57 kobo, per share.

The total volume traded dipped by 39.34 per cent to 306.822 million units, valued at N11.383 billion, and exchanged in 9,343 deals. Transactions in the shares of Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF) topped the activity chart with 35.548 million shares valued at N4.052 billion.

Jaiz Bank followed with 23.511 million shares worth N52.573 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 19.539 million shares valued at N519.286 million.

Nigerian Breweries traded 17.435 million shares valued at N489.184 million, while Access Holdings transacted 15.285 million shares worth N363.869 million