Cautious Start To Week As Equities Market Dips By N11bn

The Nigerian equities market yesterday kicked off the week on a slightly negative note, with market capitalization down by N11 billion.

The All-Share Index (ASI) lost 17.00 points, representing a loss of 0.01 per cent to close at 166,112.50 points. Also, market capitalisation shed N11 billion to close at N106.343 trillion.

The downturn was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Industrial & Medical Gases Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Ikeja Hotel, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and First Holdco.

Looking ahead, Imperial Asset Managers Limited said, “We expect the market to trade on a mixed‑to‑bullish note, with selective accumulation in financially sound and income‑oriented stocks likely to support continued gains.”

However, market sentiment remained bullish, with 44 stocks gaining ground and 24 declining. Champion Breweries, Learn Africa and NCR Nigeria emerged as the highest price gainers of 10 per cent each to close at N19.25, N7.15 and N141.40, respectively, per share. Tripple Gee & Company followed with a gain of 9.94 per cent to close at N5.86, while Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals rose by 9.90 per cent to close at N11.10, per share.

On the other side, Industrial & Medical Gases led others on the losers’ chart with 9.95 per cent to close at N34.85 per share. Haldane McCall followed with a decline of 9.88 per cent to close at N3.83, while LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shed 9.57 per cent to close at N4.44, per share.

Ikeja Hotel lost 7.28 per cent to close at N32.50, while Union Dicon Salt depreciated by 5.26 per cent to close at N9.00 per share.

Also, the total volume traded rose by 16.62 per cent to 629.600 million units, valued at N14.754 billion, and exchanged in 57,858 deals. Transactions in the shares of Secure Electronic Technology led the activity with 83.307 million shares worth N98.202 million. Access Holdings followed with account of 52.879 million shares valued at N1.214 billion, while Jaiz Bank traded 39.730 million shares valued at N339.106 million.

Tantalizer traded 34.242 million shares worth N103.110 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 23.693 million shares worth N473.450 million.