The Nigerian stock market witnessed a decline of 0.40% on Monday as investors responded to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures released by the country’s statistics bureau.
At the close of trading for the day, both the All-Share Index and the market capitalisation experienced a downturn, dropping to 104,663.34 points and N59.18 trillion, respectively.
Analysts at Arthur Stevens Asset Management Limited attributed the bearish performance to sell-offs by investors.
The National Bureau of Statistics revealed on Friday that the inflation rate for February 2024 surged to 31.70% from 29.90% in the previous month, marking a 9.79% increase compared to February 2023. Both food and core indices rose to 37.92% and 25.13%, respectively.
Projections indicate that inflation is likely to continue rising as the naira weakens against the dollar. Challenges such as heavy reliance on imports in the manufacturing sector and growing insecurity leading to disruptions in the supply chain contribute to this trend.
Despite the market decline, trading activities significantly increased. The number of deals surged by 40.58% to 9,077, while volume and the value of traded shares rose by 32.34% to 287.45 million and by 115.75% to N10.8 billion, respectively.
Market sentiments remained positive with 27 gainers, including ABC Transportation, NEM Insurance, and Livestock, which gained 9.86%, 9.77%, and 9.68%, respectively. However, there were 17 losers, with McNichos, Daar Communications, and real estate firm UPDC leading the pack with losses of -9.30%, -8.97%, and -7.89%, respectively.
The volume and value drivers of the day’s market trend were United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, and Transcorp, with banking stocks dominating the trades, led by UBA, GTCO, Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, and AccessCorp.
