The Nigerian equities market faced its third consecutive weekly loss as investors grappled with the potential impact of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) bank recapitalization plans.
Notably, Tier-1 banking stocks saw significant selling pressure, with First Bank Nigeria Holdings, FBNH, experiencing a decline of 14.2%, followed by Guaranty Trust Company (GTCO) at 8.6%, Access Corporation at 7.8%, and Zenith Bank at 4.5%.
Additionally, profit-taking activities in MTN Nigeria contributed to the market’s downturn, leading to a 2.2% loss in its share price. As a result, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 1.1% Week-on-Week (WoW), with the Year-to-Date return moderating to 38.3%.
Investors collectively lost over N623 billion WoW, with the NGX market capitalization closing at N58.497 trillion last week, down from N59.120 trillion the previous week.
The Banking Index saw the most significant decline at 6.7%, followed by the Insurance Index at 0.9% and the Industrial Goods Index at 0.3%. Conversely, the Consumer Goods Index gained 0.9%, while the Oil and Gas Index remained flat.
Source: Vanguard