The Nigerian stock market started the week with a bearish performance, as the All-Share Index (ASI) dipped by 0.15%, closing at 105,799.17 points. This decline also led to a slight drop in market capitalization by 0.01%, settling at N66.34 trillion. Investors faced a loss of N7.8 billion, pushing the year-to-date (YTD) return down to 2.79%. The weak market sentiment was attributed to a price adjustment on Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, following the listing of 16.67 billion shares through a private placement.
While the overall market performance was negative, some stocks saw positive gains. Academy led the top gainers, increasing by 9.92% to N2.88 per share. Neimeth followed with an 8.43% rise, closing at N2.70 per share, and Tantalizers saw a 6.83% increase, ending at N3.13 per share. On the flip side, 18 stocks recorded losses, with Etransact leading the losers chart, dropping by 10.00% to N5.85 per share. Sunuassur also suffered a 9.92% decline, closing at N4.63 per share.
Sectoral performance was predominantly negative, with key sectors such as Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods, and Oil & Gas experiencing losses. The Banking sector shed 0.20%, Insurance lost 1.07%, Consumer Goods dropped by 0.38%, and Oil & Gas fell by 0.19%. However, the Industrial Goods and Commodity sectors remained unaffected, showing no change during the day.
Trading activity saw mixed results. Both the volume and value of transactions surged by over 36%, reaching 477.51 million shares worth N7.05 billion. However, the number of deals decreased by 27.74%, with 13,520 transactions recorded. Jaiz Bank, Zenith Bank, Sovrenins, Prestige, and Fidelity Bank were the day’s biggest contributors to market turnover, leading the list of top trading volumes.
source: the sun