The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) started the week’s trading on a bearish note, with a significant drop of N288.9 billion in market capitalization. This decline was attributed to profit-taking activities observed in Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and 29 other listed companies.
Dangote Sugar Refinery led the pack of losers, experiencing a 10% drop in its share price, falling by N5.90 per share to close at N53.10 per share. Consequently, the overall market capitalization depreciated to N58.88 trillion from N59.169 trillion, marking a notable decrease.
The NGX All-Share Index also recorded a decline of 0.49%, reaching 104,136.35 basis points compared to the previous session’s 104,647.37 basis points. Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns moderated to +4.2% and +39.3%, respectively.
Among the sectors, the NGX Banking sector witnessed a decline of 1.7%, while the NGX Consumer Goods sector was down by 0.8%. On the other hand, the NGX Insurance sector added 0.2%, while the NGX Industrial Goods and NGX Oil & Gas indices closed flat.
Market breadth closed negative, with 20 stocks advancing and 30 declining. Ellah Lakes recorded the highest price gain of 10%, closing at N3.63 per share. Morison Industries followed with a gain of 9.93%, closing at N1.55, while SUNU Assurance was up by 9.48%, closing at N1.27 per share.
Conversely, Dangote Sugar Refinery and International Energy Insurance led the losers’ chart by 10% each, closing at N53.10 and N1.35 per share, respectively. Jaiz Bank followed with a decline of 9.92%, closing at N2.18 per share.
In terms of trading volume, there was a dip of 39.34% to 306.822 million units, valued at N11.383 billion, and exchanged in 9,343 deals. Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF) dominated the activity chart with 35.548 million shares valued at N4.052 billion.
Looking ahead, United Capital Plc anticipates that fixed income market activities will continue to influence equities investments. Additionally, the hawkish stance expected from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its next meeting could cast a bearish spell across risk asset classes. However, strong corporate resilience and the upcoming dividend season may stimulate further bargain hunting for the rest of the week.
