A sell-off in 31 stocks has dragged market indices down by N551 billion

Losses at Dangote cement, flour mills, and other companies brought market capitalisation down by N551 billion on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday.

The All Share Index (ASI) fell by 1,021.34 absolute points to 50,756.74 points at the close of trading Wednesday, marking a 1.97 percent drop. Similarly, the market capitalisation fell by N551 billion to N27.363 trillion at the end.

Losses in medium and big capitalised equities, such as Dangote Cement, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Lafarge Africa, Fidson Healthcare, and FBN Holdings, contributed to the decline (FBNH).

“Equities market resumed the week down, as the bearish trend persists,” said analysts at GTI Securities Limited. In the local market, we expect cautious trading and profit-taking to continue.”

“We saw sell-offs in the banking area moderate yesterday, amid price recovery in selected names, while other sectors bowed to sell pressure,” Vetiva Dealing and Brokerage stated. We expect prolonged lackluster trading in the stocks market, given the current economic environment, which is contributing to higher yields in the fixed income space.”

Market breadth was negative at the closing, with 31 equities depreciating in value and seven others making up the losers’ chart. Dangote Cement and Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) topped the losers’ table with 10.00% declines to close at N249.30 kobo and N5.40 kobo, respectively, while Livestock Feeds fell 9.77% to close at N1.20 kobo.

International Breweries closed at N5.65 kobo, down 9.60%. Flour Mills of Nigeria closed at N32.00 kobo, down 8.57 percent. FTN Cocoa lost 8.57 percent of its value to close at 32 kobo. Sovereign Trust fell 7.41 kobo to 25 kobo at the close.

FBN Holdings closed at N9.22, down 7.22 percent. Fidson closed at N11.20 kobo, down 6.67 percent. Lafarge WAPCO closed at N26.60 kobo, down 4.66 percent. Lasaco Assurance likewise dropped 4.63 percent to N1.03 kobo at the closing.

Jaiz Bank, on the other side, saw the biggest price increase of 5.32 percent, closing at 99 kobo per share. Regency Alliance Insurance, which closed at 28 kobo, gained 3.70 percent.

Japaul Gold and Ventures rose 3.33 percent to 31 kobo per share at the close. Zenith Bank gained 2.80% to N22.00, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) gained 2.63 percent to N7.80 kobo.

The overall amount traded, however, increased by 43.04 percent to 345.005 million shares worth N3.073 billion, transacted in 5,075 transactions. With 177.592 million shares valued at N668.970 million, transactions in FCMB Group shares topped the activity table.

UBA came in second with 29.499 million shares worth N221.187 million, followed by Access Holdings with 21.965 million shares worth N206.365 million.

Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 11.565 million shares worth N14.334 million, while FBNH traded 12.574 million shares worth N113.966 million.

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