Equities market drops by N658bn as investors trade with caution  

The domestic equities market on Monday began the week on a bearish trend as investors’ investment down by N658 billion.

The All Share Index (ASI) lost by 1,295.02 points, representing a loss of 1.23 per cent to close at 104,216.87 points. Also, market capitalisation shed N658 billion to close at N65.489 trillion.

The overall downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Oando, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Aradel Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Transnational Corporation (Transcorp).

Also, investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth was negative as nine stocks advanced, while 51 declined. VFD Group recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N62.70, per share. TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria followed with a gain of 9.61 per cent to close at N745.00, while Guinea Insurance rose by 9.52 per cent to close at 69 kobo, per share.

International Energy Insurance appreciated by 9.33 per cent to close at N1.64, while Abbey Mortgage Bank up by 8.88 per cent to close at N5.15, per share.

On the other hand, Cornerstone Insurance, Oando, Secure Electronic Technology and R.T. Briscoe (Nigeria) led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each to close at N2.97, N37.80, 45 kobo and N2.16 respectively, per share.

Honeywell Flour Mills followed with a decline of 9.98 per cent to close at N10.19, while Julius Berger declined by 8.44 per cent to close at N128.00, per share.

Deap Capital Management and Trust depreciated by 8.26 per cent to close at N1.00, while Consolidated Hallmark Holdings declined by 9.94 per cent to close at N2.81, per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded rose by 27.51 per cent to 444.107 million units, valued at N11.148 billion, and exchanged in 15,690 deals. Transactions in the shares of FCMB Group topped the activity chart with 65.500 million shares valued at N588.996 million. Fidelity Bank followed with 42.533 million shares worth N818.382 million, while GTCO traded 34.482 million shares valued at N2.334 billion.

Access Holdings traded 31.829 million shares valued at N687.212 million, while Zenith Bank sold 31.672 million shares worth N1.471 billion.

Looking forward, United Capital Plc said “the equities market is expected to improve marginally as investors continue to take position for the full year 2024 earnings season and possible corporate action declarations.

“Nevertheless, given the elevated interest rate environment in the fixed-income market, we still expect bearish sentiments to linger in the background. The upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision in May has led some investors to adopt a wait-and-see attitude towards the equities market. Concurrently, retail investors are engaging in profit-booking, resulting in sell-offs that impede the consistent upward movement of stock prices.”