Last week, stock market investors in Nigeria experienced losses amounting to N623 billion as fund managers adjusted their portfolios in anticipation of first quarter results.
The Nigerian capital market saw a decline of 1.08%, closing at 103,437.67 points, while market capitalization dropped by 1.05% to N58.5 trillion.
Analysts attributed the market’s performance to ongoing corporate earnings releases and efforts by investors to rebalance their portfolios based on expected first quarter earnings for 2024. Trading activities increased significantly, with 3.68 billion shares worth N57.89 billion exchanged in 40,726 deals, compared to the previous week’s 1.80 billion shares valued at N52.04 billion.
Despite the overall decline, the consumer goods and growth indices recorded gains of 0.94% and 0.32%, respectively. This was driven by window dressing activities by fund managers in anticipation of positive first quarter scorecards. Adverse price movements in certain stocks like May & Baker, Dangote Sugar, and Ikeja Hotel contributed to the consumer goods index’s positive performance.
The top three equities traded by volume were Abbey Mortgage Bank, Tourist Company of Nigeria, and Zenith Bank, accounting for a significant portion of the total equity turnover volume and value for the week.
Source: PUNCH