Nigerian equities opened the week sharply lower, eroding prior week gains as capitalisation lost N656 billion.
The All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 1,203.09 absolute points, representing a dip of 2.53 per cent to close at 46,365.95 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation lost N656 billion to close at N25.254 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Airtel Africa, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Fidson Healthcare, AIICO Insurance and Sovereign Trust Insurance.
This week, United Capital Plc expected continued bargain hunting as investors look forward to the Q3, 2022 earnings season, thus cherry-picking stocks with great underlying fundamentals.
“However, we maintain that the broader equities market will remain in a lull pending the release of Q3, 2022 results,” United Capital said.
However, market breadth closed positive, with 14 gainers losers versus five losers. PZ Cussons Nigeria recorded the highest price gain of 9.52 per cent to close at N9.20, per share. University Press followed with a gain 9.33 per cent to close at N1.64, while Courteville Business Solutions appreciated by 4.35 per cent to close at 48 kobo, per share.
Cutix went up by 3.50 per cent to close at N2.07, while Wapic Insurance appreciated by 2.86 per cent to close at 36 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Airtel Africa led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N1,620.00, per share. Sovereign Trust Insurance followed with a decline of 7.14 per cent to close at 26 kobo, while AIICO Insurance went down by 7.02 to close at 53 kobo, per share.
Dangote Sugar Refinery lost 2.80 per cent to close at N15.60, while Fidson Healthcare shed 2.51 per cent to close at N8.94, per share. The total volume traded rose by 10.89 per cent to 137.983 million shares, worth N4.317 billion, and traded in 3,234 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) topped the activity chart with 33.715 million shares valued at N609.863 million. Courteville Business Solutions followed with 26.138 million shares worth N12.545 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 19.980 million shares valued at N69.022 million.
Sterling Bank traded 8.930 million shares valued at N13.767 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 6.526 million shares worth N45 million.
