Bears Usher In Equities Trading Week With N50bn Loss

The Nigerian stock market yesterday opened the week on a bearish note as losses in Nestle Nigeria Plc and 24 others pushed the overall market capitalisation down by N50 billion.

The All Share Index (ASI) lost 92.77 points, representing a loss of 0.09 per cent to close at 101,995.53 points. Also, market capitalisation declined by N50 billion to close at N55.811 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Presco, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Eterna and Fidson Healthcare.

This week, United Capital Plc said ‘we anticipate the bearish sentiments amongst investors to persist in the local equities market given the recent developments in the fixed-income market.

The impact of the high yields in the fixed-income market will continue to drive sell-offs as investors switch their asset classes to less risky assets.

“Other headwinds to the equities market are the uncertainties surrounding interest rate decision and the possible ‘HIKE’ in Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at their meeting scheduled for the 26th and 27th February, 2024,” it pointed out.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 28 stocks gained relative to 25 losers. NASCON Allied Industries recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N66.00, per share.

Juli followed with a gain of 9.83 per cent to close at N2.57, while FBNH Holdings (FBNH) rose by 9.68 per cent to close at N34.00, per share.

Wapic Insurance rose by 8.96 per cent to close at 73 kobo, while DAAR Communications up by 8.86 per cent to close at 86 kobo, per share.

On the other hand, Nestle Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, to close at N990.00, per share. Eterna followed with a decline of 9.97 per cent to close at N15.80, while Fidson Healthcare declined by 9.82 per cent to close at N15.15, per share.

CWG depreciated by 9.56 per cent to close at N6.15, while SUNU Assurance declined by 9.09 per cent to close at N1.90, per share.

The total volume traded advanced by 1.14 per cent to 294.325 million units, valued at N6.723 billion, and exchanged in 9,957 deals.

Transactions in the shares of FBNH topped the activity chart with 73.835 million shares valued at N2.416 billion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with 20.670 million shares worth N493.051 million, while Zenith Bank traded 20.625 million shares valued at N731.406 million.

Fidelity Bank traded 19.982 million shares valued at N205.396 million, while Veritas Kapital Assurance sold 12.320 million shares worth N8.965 million.