The equities market dipped further on Wednesday by 2.31% at the close of transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX.
For the third consecutive session this week, the benchmark index slid further by 1,048.17 basis points to settle at 44,318.15 basis points from 45,366.32 basis points, while the market capitalization shed ₦571bn to close at ₦24,139trn from ₦24,710trn.
Extended selloffs in telco heavyweight, AIRTEL AFRICA PLC (-10.00%) as well as MTN NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS PLC(-2.01%) were the major drivers of the market’s weak performance.
Analysis according to Coronation Securities Limited states that “In addition, losses in Tier-1 banking names, ZENITH BANK PLC (-0.25%) GUARANTY TRUST HOLDING COMPANY PLC(-0.54%) and UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC (-0.71%) contributed to keep the market in the red.”
Analysis of today’s market activities showed that a total of 165.35m units of shares valued at ₦3.67bn were exchanged in 3,183 deals with FBN HOLDINGS PLC(+1.57%) leading the volume chart with 48.09m units traded while AIRTEL AFRICA PLC (-10.00%) led the value chart in deals worth ₦1.15bn.
Market breadth closed positive with 17 declining stocks outnumbering 16 advancing ones.
FIDELITY BANK PLC led the advancers by 9.74%, followed by JAIZ BANK PLC with 7.06% and MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSURANCE PLC by 6.90%, while AIRTEL AFRICA PLC led the decliners by 10.00%, MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC by 9.76% and IKEJA HOTEL PLC by 9.68%.
On sectoral performance, the Industrial Goods (+0.9%), Banking (+0.5%), and Insurance (+0.2%) indices advanced, while the Oil & Gas (-0.8%) index closed lower. The Consumer Goods index closed flat
