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Yesterday, the Nigerian stock market kicked off the week on a negative note, with Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and 29 other companies recording losses that dragged the overall capitalization down by N289 billion.
The All-Share Index fell by 511.02 points, representing a 0.49 percent decline, closing at 104,136.35 points. Similarly, the total market capitalization lost N289 billion, closing at N58.880 trillion.
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The market’s negative performance was driven by price declines in large and medium-capitalized stocks such as Dangote Sugar Refinery, Transcorp Power, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), and FBNH Holdings (FBNH).
Looking ahead, United Capital Plc stated, “We expect activities in the fixed-income market to continue to deter equity investments.
Also, indications of a hawkish stance by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its upcoming meeting on March 25 and March 26, 2024, aligned with its inflation targeting framework, will continue to cast a bearish spell across risk asset classes.
However, given the level of activity by the bulls in the market, pending the release of financial statements from some corporates (particularly the top tier banks), the dividend season, and strong corporate resilience, we expect further bargain hunting for the rest of the week.”
Investor sentiment, measured by market breadth, closed negative with 20 stocks advancing and 30 declining. Ellah Lakes recorded the highest price gain of 10 percent to close at N3.63 per share.
Morison Industries followed with a gain of 9.93 percent to close at N1.55, and SUNU Assurance rose by 9.48 percent to close at N1.27 per share. On the other hand, Dangote Sugar Refinery and International Energy Insurance led the losers’ chart by 10 percent each, closing at N53.10 and N1.35, respectively. Jaiz Bank followed with a decline of 9.92 percent to close at N2.18 per share.
In terms of trading volume, there was a 39.34 percent dip to 306.822 million units, valued at N11.383 billion, exchanged in 9,343 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF) topped the activity chart with 35.548 million shares valued at N4.052 billion.
Jaiz Bank followed with 23.511 million shares worth N52.573 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 19.539 million shares valued at N519.286 million. Nigerian Breweries traded 17.435 million shares valued at N489.184 million, while Access Holdings transacted 15.285 million shares worth N363.869 million.
