The capital market’s two-week winning streak came to an end as market capitalization dropped by N429 billion as a result of renewed sell pressure in numerous highly capitalized stocks, particularly Airtel Africa and Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup).
In conclusion, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 789.04 absolute points, or 1.53%, to settle at 50,868.52 points.
In a same vein, the market capitalization as a whole lost N429 billion to end at N27.707 trillion.
Price declines in major and medium capitalized stocks, including Airtel Africa, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup), Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), University Press, and NPF Microfinance Bank, were the main cause of the market loss.
Analysts at United Capital Plc said “Looking forward, we anticipate robust market activity and bullish sentiments to continue briefly. The usual January momentum is likely to dominate in the near term, particularly as the yield environment appears to be shifting downwards.”
“We believe investors are likely to continue to favour the equities market even in Q1, 2023, as we estimate total sovereign maturities in Q1, 2023 will print at N2.3 trillion, while total auctions (bonds and NT-bills) will likely hover around N1.7 trillion, creating excess liquidity of N555.2 billion. However, we see room for a brief bearish technical reversal in mid-January.”
According to Vetiva Dealing and Brokerage, investors are continuing to take positions before the full-year results, thus we anticipate that the session will end positively tomorrow. We do not, however, completely rule out profit-taking in counters that have increased recently.
“Also, given 75bps WTD loss, we expect the week to close out in the red barring any significant positive close in any of the heavyweights.”
Market breadth, a measure of investor mood, concluded with a positive result as 20 stocks rose and 16 fell. The biggest price increase went to John Holt, who saw his share price rise 10% to settle at 88 kobo. Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) increased by 9.78% to close at N1.01, while Honeywell Flour Mills gained 9.95% to close at N2.43.
Nigerian Breweries increased by 4.21 percent to close at N47, while UAC of Nigeria (UACN) increased by 4.88 percent to close at N10.75.
Prestige Assurance, on the other hand, topped the losers’ chart by 8.7% to settle at 42 kobo per share. Following Airtel Africa, which had a decrease of 8.26% to close at N1, 500.00, University Press saw a loss of 7.37% to settle at N1.76 kobo.
Royal Exchange lost 6.36 percent to settle at N1.03 kobo, while NPF Microfinance Bank lost 7.1% to close at N1.57.
There were 3,673 transactions totaling 138.716 million units traded for N1.828 billion, a decline of 47.80% over the previous quarter.
With 29.154 million shares traded for a total value of N41.014 million, transactions in Sterling Bank shares topped the list of activity. Access Holdings traded 11.348 million shares worth N99.855 million, followed by Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) with 19.946 million shares worth N477.768 million.
Zenith Bank traded 6.246 million shares worth N152.138 million, while FBN Holdings exchanged 10.994 million shares valued at N120.967 million.
