The Nigerian stock market opened the week on a bearish note, recording a decline of N72 billion in market capitalization by the close of trading on Monday.
The market’s total valuation stood at N67.4 trillion, reflecting a marginal dip from the previous session. Despite an increase in trading volume by 7%, turnover fell by 8%, with investors exchanging 511.1 million shares across 17,095 deals, amounting to N12.81 billion in transactions.
The All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 116.21 points, translating to a 0.11% decline, settling at 107,937.74 points. However, the market has maintained an overall positive trend, with gains of 1.93% over the past week, 5.44% in four weeks, and 4.87% since the beginning of the year.
Top Gainers and Losers
Out of 128 stocks traded on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), 20 companies recorded gains, while 42 stocks closed lower.
Leading the gainers’ chart:
- Nigerian Breweries Plc surged 10% to close at N36.30 per share.
- Cadbury Nigeria followed with a 9.97% increase.
- The Initiates Plc and International Energy Insurance also recorded notable gains of 9.88% and 9.87%, respectively.
On the losing side:
- Ikeja Hotel suffered the biggest loss, declining by 10% to N12.60 per share.
- Learn Africa Plc also dropped 10%, while Cornerstone Insurance lost 9.8%.
- UPDC Plc, a major real estate player, saw its stock decline by 9.79%.
Most Traded Stocks
- Access Holdings led trading volume with 144 million shares exchanged.
- Aiico Insurance followed with 24.6 million shares, while UPDC and Fidelity Bank recorded 20.4 million and 19.9 million shares, respectively.
Sectoral Performance
Market indices displayed mixed results despite the overall dip:
- The NGX 30 Index fell slightly by 0.06%, but maintained a weekly gain of 2.28% and a year-to-date gain of 5.21%.
- The Consumer Goods Index rose by 1.35%, though it recorded a weekly decline of 2.43%.
- The Industrial Index added 0.12%, posting a weekly gain of 10.4% and a YTD growth of 1.93%.
Market analysts predict continued volatility, with investor sentiment and macroeconomic factors playing a key role in shaping market trends in the coming days.
