Stock Market Down N436.97bn Amid Profit-taking in MTN Nigeria, 27 Others

Kayode Tokede

Following investors’ profit-taking in MTN Nigeria Communication Plc and 27 others, the stock market segment of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), yesterday dropped by N436.97biilliion in market capitalisation to N56.721trilliion from N57.158trilliion the market opened from trading.

The stock market’s major indicator, the NGX All-Share Index also dropped by 761.42basis points or 0.73per cent to 103,659.81basis points from 104,421.23 basis points to bring the Year-till-Date (YtD) gain to 38.63per cent.

Investors sentiment rock the stock market despite Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Dr Yemi Cardoso clarifications on the foreign currency backlog situation.

Selloffs in telco giant, MTN Nigeria Communication that was down by 5.52per cent to N274.00 per share alongside Tier-1 banks, Zenith Bank that depreciated by 2.03per cent to N38.70 per share, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO)that declined by 2.53per cent to N40.50 per share, impacted negatively on the overall market performance.

Sectoral performance was mixed, as the NGX Insurance Index added 2.7per cent to 28.81 basis points, while the NGX Banking Index depreciated by 2.3peer cent to 953.13 basis points.

Meanwhile, the NGX Consumer Goods, Index, Industrial Goods index and Oil & Gas indices closed flat at 1,479.87 basis points, 5,666.54 basis points and 1,251.64basis points, respectively.

As measured by market breadth, stock market sentiment was equal, as 28 stocks gained relative to 28 losers.

Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Meyer Plc, Daar Communication Plc, May & Baker Plc recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N22.00, N2.09, N4.73, N0.77 and N6.93 respectively.

Sovereign Trust Insurance followed with a gain of 9.80 per cent to close at 56 kobo, while Ellah Lakes appreciated by 9.71 per cent to close at N3.73, per share.

On the other hand, Abbey Mortgage Bank led the losers’ chart by 9.70 per cent to close at N2.70, per share. Livestock Feeds followed with a decline of 9.66 per cent to close at N1.87, while Fidelity Bank lost 9.38 per cent to close at N11.60, per share.

Jaiz Bank depreciated by 7.93 per cent to close at N2.67, while MTNN declined by 5.52 per cent to close at N274.00, per share.

The total volume traded decreased by 10.81 per cent to 841.551 million units, valued at N19.328 billion, and exchanged in 13,674 deals. Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings (FBNH) topped the activity chart with 332.297 million shares valued at N8.955 billion.

Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) followed with 49.969 million shares worth N812.132 million, while Oando traded 43.507 million shares valued at N637.132 million.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 34.731 million shares valued at N951.327 million, while Nigerian Breweries sold 29.747 million shares worth N1.133 billion.

Looking ahead, United Capital Plc said “we expect positive sentiments to dominate the market, supported by the commencement of the full year, 2023 earning season.

“We expect bargain-hunting activities across stocks with strong fundamentals and impressive earnings releases. We anticipate increased buy-interests towards corporates in the financial services sector due to expectations of strong top-bottom line growth. Meanwhile, dividend scouting investors can also cherry-pick stocks ahead of full-year dividend declarations.”