MTN, ETERNA lead market decline, as investors lose N35.36bn

By Philemon Adedeji

The Nigerian equity market ended the trading week in downbeat, as the NGX All-Share-Index (ASI) shed  64.98  basis points closing at 65,198.08 index points, in contrast to the previous session’s gain of 155 basis points when it closed at 65,263.06 index points.

The day’s negative performance was driven by investors taking profits in prominent stocks, including ETERNA OIL (-9.83 per cent), ACCESS CORPORATION (-2.01 per cent), MTN (1.07 per cent), United Bank for Africa (UBA) (1.05 per cent), PZ Cussion (0.83 per cent), and 23 other stocks.

As a result, the Year to Date (YTD) return decreased to 27.21 per cent. Additionally, the market capitalisation experienced a slight decline of 10 per cent, closing at N35.48 trillion, which led to a reduction in investors’ wealth by N35.36 billion.

Market activity for the day showed mixed results, with the volume of traded shares declining by 18.45 per cent to 363.15 million units. However, the value of traded shares increased by 19.39 per cent to N6.07 billion.

The Market Breadth, which measures investor sentiment through the g gainers and losers ratio, decreased to 1.00x from 5.10x in the previous session. This shift was due to 28 stocks appreciating, 28 stocks depreciating, and 60 stocks closing flat.

On the performance board, Glaxosmith  led the gainers with 9.88 per cent to close at N8.90 per share, followed by Cadbury which appreciated by 9.84 per cent to close at N13.95 per share, while Abbey Mortgage Bank went up by 9.77 per cent to close at N1.46 per share.

Chellaram which recorded as the last fourth gainer grew by 9.71 per cent to close at N3.39 per share, while Academy Press which recorded as the last fifth gainer rose by 9.30 per cent to close at N2.35 per share.

On the other hand, Meyer  and Eterna Oil which topped the losers chart went down by 9.83 per cent each to close at N2.66 and N21.10 per share respectively Ikeja hotel which followed lost 9.70 per cent to close at N2.42 per share.

UPL which recorded as the last fouth loser dipped by 9.24 per cent to close at N2.26 per share and Sovereign Insurance shed 9.09 per cent to close at N0.50 per share.

Transaction in the shares of Transnational Corporation topped the activities chart with 29.282 million shares worth N107.998 million, FBN Holdings traded 28.444 million shares value at N514.508 million, while First City Monument Bank accounted 26.787 million shares value at N164.954 million.

Zenith Bank transacted 23.863 million shares worth N809.737 million, while Japaulgold sold 22.794 million shares valued at N22.508 million.