The Nigerian stock (NGX) market yesterday opened the week on a bearish note as losses in Nestle Nigeria Plc and 24 others pushed the overall market capitalization down by N50 billion.
The All Share Index (ASI) lost 92.77 points, representing a loss of 0.09 percent to close at 101,995.53 points. Also, market capitalization declined by N50 billion to close at N55.811 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Presco, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Eterna, and Fidson Healthcare.
According to industry watchers, the impact of the high yields in the fixed-income market will continue to drive sell-offs as investors switch their asset classes to less risky assets.
Other headwinds to the equities market are the uncertainties surrounding interest rate decisions and the possible ‘hike’ in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at their meeting scheduled for the 26th and 27th of February.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 28 stocks gained relative to 25 losers. NASCON Allied Industries recorded the highest price gain of 10 percent to close at N66.00, per share.
Juli followed with a gain of 9.83 percent to close at N2.57, while FBNH Holdings (FBNH) rose by 9.68 percent to close at N34.00, per share.
Wapic Insurance rose by 8.96 percent to close at 73 kobo, while DAAR Communications was up by 8.86 percent to close at 86 kobos, per share.
On the other hand, Nestle Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 10 percent, to close at N990.00, per share. Eterna followed with a decline of 9.97 percent to close at N15.80, while Fidson Healthcare declined by 9.82 percent to close at N15.15, per share.
CWG depreciated by 9.56 percent to close at N6.15 on NGX, while SUNU Assurance declined by 9.09 percent to close at N1.90, per share.
The total volume traded advanced by 1.14 percent to 294.325 million units, valued at N6.723 billion, and exchanged in 9,957 deals.
Transactions in the shares of FBNH topped the activity chart with 73.835 million shares valued at N2.416 billion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with 20.670 million shares worth N493.051 million, while Zenith Bank traded 20.625 million shares valued at N731.406 million.
Fidelity Bank traded 19.982 million shares valued at N205.396 million, while Veritas Kapital Assurance sold 12.320 million shares worth N8.965 million.
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