Stocks End Week Lower As Blue-chip Losses Pull Market Cap Down By N612bn

The Nigerian equities market closed the week in negative territory as heavy losses in BUA Cement Plc and 34 others weighed on market performance.

The All-Share Index dipped 0.14 per cent week-on-week to close at 243,462.13 points, while market capitalization lost N612 billion to close the week at N 157.057 trillion.

Market breadth closed positive with 44 advancers outpacing 35 decliners. First HoldCo led the gainers table by 38.66 per cent to close at N95.95, per share. Thomas Wyatt Nigeria followed with a gain of 27.16 per cent to close at N3.09, while Fidelity Bank went up by 15.00 per cent to close to N21.85, per share.

On the other side, BUA Cement led the decliners table by 18.99 per cent to close at N275.60, per share. Red Star Express followed with a loss of 18.53 per cent to close at N20.00, while International Energy Insurance declined by 15.27 per cent to close at N4.66, per share.

Meanwhile, a total turnover of 2.819 billion shares worth N182.499 billion in 226,729 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 3.648 billion shares valued at N220.568 billion that exchanged hands last week in 251,861 deals.

The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 2.006 billion shares valued at N99.697 billion traded in 96,171 deals, contributing 71.17 per cent and 54.63 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Consumer Goods Industry followed with 178.863 million shares worth N7.872 billion in 26,637 deals, while the Oil and Gas Industry pulled a turnover of 151.237 million shares worth N38.309 billion in 16,879 deals.

Trading in the top equities, First Holdco, FCMB Group and Access Holdings accounted for 939.402 million shares worth N57.673 billion in 19,051 deals, contributing 33.33 per cent and 31.60 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

On market outlook, Cordros Securities Limited said, “in the coming week, we expect market activity to be shaped by the outcome of the MPC meeting and the commencement of the Q2/H1 earnings season, with corporate earnings likely to drive stock-specific positioning.

“Nonetheless, we believe attractive entry points across select fundamentally sound stocks will continue to support bargain-hunting activity.”

It however stated that, elevated Treasury bill yields are expected to remain a key competing destination for investor capital, potentially tempering the pace of inflows into the equities market.