Nigerian equities market drops by N91bn over negative sentiment trading 

The Nigerian equities market started the week on a bearish note on Monday, as the overall capitalization declined by N91 billion.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index (NGX ASI) declined by 140.41 basis points or 0.06 per cent, to close at 250,667.86 basis points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value shed N91 billion to close at N 162.752 trillion.

The market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Nestle Nigeria, Cadbury Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Africa Prudential and ABC Transport.

Looking ahead, Cowry Assets Management said, “we expect the market to gradually recover from its recent bearish bias as investor sentiment improves. However, continued profit-taking and selective selling may constrain the pace of gains in the near term.”

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative, as 24 tickers gained relative to 29 losers. Sovereign Trust Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N2.31, per share. FTN Cocoa Processors followed with a gain of 9.97 per cent to close at N8.38, while Tripple Gee & Company up by 9.87 per cent to close at N2.56, per share.

Learn Africa appreciated by 9.80 per cent to close at N8.40, while Livestock Feeds rose by 9.55 per cent to close at N9.75, per share.

On the other hand, Critical Minerals Financing Corporation (CMFC) led the losers’ chart by 9.80 per cent to close at N4.05, per share. ABC Transport followed with a decline of 9.46 per cent to close at N6.70, while Africa Prudential dipped by 7.31 per cent to close at N10.15, per share.

Japaul Gold & Ventures down by 6.94 per cent to close at N2.68, while Wapic Insurance declined by 6.36 per cent to close at N2.21, per share.

The total volume traded declined by 59.3 per cent to 875.28 million units, valued at N40.88 billion, and exchanged in 53,887 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Holdings topped the activity chart with 440.653 million shares valued at N13.229 billion. CMFC followed with 57.779 million shares worth N235 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 45.441 million shares valued at N2.046 billion.

Fidelity Bank traded 34.252 million shares valued at N780.899 million, while Chams Holding Company transacted 25.797 million shares worth N85.119 million