Equities market depreciates by N14bn ahead of Easter celebration

In the last trading session of the week, the equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday maintained the bearish trend with a decline of N14 billion ahead of Easter celebration.

The NGX All Share Index (ASI) fell by 24.84 basis points or 0.05 per cent, to close at 52,994.13 basis points. 

Accordingly, investors lost N14 billion in value as market capitalisation declined to N28.869 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Sugar Refinery, Eterna, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Lafarge Africa and University Press.

The market breadth was negative as 18 stocks lost relative to nine gainers.

AIICO Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 5.26 per cent to close at 60 kobo per share. Academy Press followed with a gain of 4.65 per cent to close at N1.35 and Chams up by 4.35 per cent to close at 24 kobo per share.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) rose by 2.40 per cent to close at N8.55, while Champion Breweries gained 2.00 per cent to close at N5.10 per share.

On the other hand, University Press led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N1.80 per share.

Wapic Insurance followed with a decline of 6.98 per cent to close at 40 kobo, while Eterna declined by 5.98 per cent to close at N5.50 per share.

FTN Cocoa Processors declined by 3.57 per cent to close at 27 kobo, while Regency Alliance Insurance shed 3.33 per cent to close at 29 kobo per share.

However, the total volume traded increased by 35.28 per cent to 266.953 million units, valued at N1.929 billion, and exchanged in 3,651 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) topped the activity chart with 147.152 million shares valued at N205.686 million.

Zenith Bank followed with 19.107 million shares worth N487.110 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 18.019 million shares valued at N152.385 million.

Access Holdings traded 12.117 million shares valued at N108.866 million, while AXA Mansard Insurance transacted 7.354 million shares worth N16.265 million.

Looking ahead, United Capital Plc said: “We retain a positive outlook for the equities market in Q2, 2023. On one end, our prognosis is hinged on our expectation for a depressed yield environment in the fixed-income market, buoyed by the excess maturities (N2.0trillion) expected in Q2-2022.

“On the other end, we expect investors’ risk-on sentiment to be bolstered by strong corporate performance, impressive dividend yield (particularly as the dividend payment season is already underway), and improving economic growth prospects. For equity-vested fund managers, we recommend cherry-picking equities with solid fundamentals and dividend yield.”