Stock Market Sustains Negative Sentiment, Shrinks By N186bn

The Nigerian stock market yesterday extended its losing streak as price decline in Airtel Africa Plc and 17 others dragged the All-Share Index lower by N186 billion or 0.69 per cent.

The All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 346.49 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.69 per cent to close at 49,644.92 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation lost close at N26.778 trillion after the loss.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Airtel Africa, Nigerian Exchange (NGXGroup), Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Nigerian Breweries.

Analysts at GTI Securities Limited noted that, “activities ended bearish, as sell-off  persists in major blue chip stocks , such as Airtel Africa, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and others. We expect cautious trading to continue throughout the week.”

Also, market breadth closed negative, with 11 gainers versus 18 losers. Unilever Nigeria recorded the highest price gain of 9.43 per cent to close at N13.35, per share. Chemical & Allied Products (CAP) followed with a gain 7.58 per cent to close at N17.75, while Chams rose by 7.14 per cent to close 30 kobo per share.

Sterling Bank went up by 5.48 per cent to close at N1.54, while Sovereign Trust Insurance rose by 3.70 per cent to close at 28 kobo per share.

On the other hand, NPF Microfinance Bank led the losers’ chart by 7.83 per cent to close at N1.53, per share. Regency Alliance Insurance followed with a decline of 7.69 per cent to close at 24 kobo, while Livestock Feeds  fell by 5.60 per cent to close at N1.18 per share.

NGX Group went down by 4.76 to close at N20.00, while Zenith Bank shed 3.57 per cent to close at N20.25 per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume of trades declined by 30.82 per cent to 138.991 million units, valued at N2.725 billion and exchanged in 4,247 deals. Transactions in the shares of Sterling Bank topped the activity chart with 18.300 million shares valued at N27.412 million.

Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) followed with 13.233 million shares worth N14.031 million, while Zenith Bank traded 12.497 million shares valued at N257.861 million.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 9.204 million shares valued at N183.075 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 7.720 million shares worth N55.147 million.