A review of the performance of stocks listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday showed that three sectors, banking, insurance and oil and gas recorded gains despite the All-Share Index losing by 0.06 percent and investors losing N32billion of their wealth.
The equities market experienced another day of decline as investors continued to offload their holdings in stocks.
The All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 0.06 percent, closing at 97,774.22 points.
Consequently, the market capitalization of listed equities declined further by 0.06 percent, settling at N55.51 trillion, erasing N32 billion from investors’ portfolios. Significant contributors to the day’s decline included CUTIX, NAHCO, BERGER, NB, and SCOA, each recording share price declines of -10.00 percent, -10.00 percent, -10.00 percent, -9.82 percent, and – 9.77 percent, respectively.
Despite the overall market decline, trading activity levels showed remarkable improvement. The total number of deals increased by 3.83 percent to 10,847. Traded volume surged by 360.25 percent to 1.84 billion units, and traded value jumped by 188.89 percent to N23.11 billion.
Turning to sectoral performance, the market exhibited a relatively positive trend. Despite declines in the Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods indices, which fell by 0.76 percent and 0.02 percent, respectively, the Banking, Insurance, and Oil/Gas indices recorded gains of 0.57 percent, 1.46 percent, and 0.04 percent, respectively.
The top five gainers for the day were IMG, UPL, VERITASKAP, CORNERST, and ACADEMY, each with appreciable share price gains of +10.00 percent, +10.00 percent, +10.00 percent, +9.63 percent, and +9.50 percent, respectively. FIDELITY took the spotlight as the most traded stock in terms of both volume and value, with 1.33 billion units traded, valued at N14.04 billion, and changing hands in 332 trades.
In the money market, Overnight NIBOR declined by 18bps to close at 25.96 percent as banks with liquidity sought lower rates on Wednesday.
Key money market rates such as the Open Repo Rate (OPR) and Overnight Lending Rate (OVN) concluded at 25.39 percent and 25.83 percent, respectively.
In the Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills Tue Yield (NITTY) space, rates across all tenor buckets showed upward movements, reflecting buy interest from investors.
As a result, the secondary market for Nigerian Treasury Bills displayed a positive trend, resulting in a marginal decline in the average yield by 0.01 percent to 22.64 percent.
Bond Market Trading in the FGN bond market exhibited a bearish trend, leading to a 0.04 percent rise in the average yield, which settled at 19.76 percent.
The APR-49 instrument was the poorest performer, experiencing a yield increase of 50 basis points.
In Nigeria’s sovereign Eurobonds market, a bearish sentiment prevailed across the short, mid, and long segments of the yield curve, resulting in a 0.04 percent rise in the average yield to 10.19 percent.
In the official NAFEM market, the naira appreciated by 0.76 percent, closing at ₦1,608.73 per dollar.
Conversely, in the parallel market, the naira depreciated by 0.63 percent, averaging ₦1,595 per dollar.
