Bear Reverses Gains As Market Cap Loses N19bn

The Nigerian stock market, yesterday, closed lower than it opened as the capitalisation lost N19.09 billion, reversing the gain at the beginning of the week.

Consequently, the All Share Index (ASI) declined by 35.07 absolute points, representing a loss  of 0.06 per cent to close at 54,189.31 points.

Accordingly, investors lost N19 billion in value as market capitalisation went down to N29.519 trillion compared to N29.538 trillion which it closed on Monday.

The bear held sway at the market with 15 stocks’ share price losing value as against the nine stocks that recorded price appreciation during the day trading. Veritas led the pack of losers as it shed 4.76 per cnet of its share price to close at N0.20

It was followed by Linkage Assurance which ended the day selling at 43 kobo having shed 4.44 per cent of its share price. The price of  International Breweries was also down by 4.26 per cent closing at N4.50 while Transcorp Plc closed lower at N1.19 with a 4.03 per cent loss while CHI Plc closed lower at 65 kobo with a 2.99 per cent price decline.

On the other hand MRS led the nine gainers as its share price rose by 10 per cent to N25.30 while TrippleG saw a 9.63 per cent price appreciation to sell at N2.39. The share prices of Livingtrust and AIICO insurance also rose by 5.16 and 1.69 per cent to close at N2.65 and 69 kobo respectively.

At the end of the day’s trading, a total of 254.17 million shares valued at N15.58 billion was traded on by investors representing 64.38 and 182.93 per cent increase in trade and value respectively compared to Monday’s trading activities.

Geregu Power led on the activity table followed by financial holding companies stocks with 125.01 million shares valued at N12.5 million in 19 deals. At the end of the day, investors exchanged 31.07 million units of GTCO shares valued at N779.38 million in 173 deals, 15.03 million units of Zenith Bank shares valued at N375.84 million in 208 deals and 11.07 million shares of Access Corp valued at N100.52 million in 159 deals.

The total volume traded declined by 24.43 per cent to 134.460 million shares, worth N4.355 billion, and traded in 2,905 deals. Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) topped the activity chart with 42.348 million shares valued at N1.065 billion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with 13.105 million shares worth N109.901 million, while AIICO Insurance traded 6.662 million shares valued at N3.960 million.

Meanwhile, the FGN Bonds market traded on a somewhat calm note, though with cherry picking witnessed across the spectrum. Activities seen were largely on the 23s, 28s and 49s; thus, the day closed with trades consummated on these papers.

The treasury bills market traded on a calm note due to cautious trading by market participants. Offers seen were largely on the long-dated papers, though, with bids at high level. Hence, a few deals will be executed on the Mar-23 and Feb 24 NTBs.

It was a very active session for the special bill papers as buy interest tilted there. Offers seen on the papers were at 4.3 per cent levels, which moderated downwards given the demand on the papers.