Stock Investors Lose N198bn In Just 4days
Investors in the nation’s stock market lost a total of N198bn in one week.
The equities market traded mixed with a negative tilt last week, dropping by 178 basis points week-on-week.
The market capitalisation of equities listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange dropped to N10.979tn on Friday from N11.177tn the previous week.
Trading was negative in the first two days of the week but positive in the final two days. There was a public holiday on Wednesday.
The All Share Index lost 73bps on Monday as the market closed on a negative note with mildly higher trading volume. Investors lost N82bn as the market capitalisation dropped to N11.095tn on Monday from the N11.177 recorded the previous Friday.
A further decline was recorded on the last day of April (Tuesday), with the market dropping 122bps as investors lost N136bn.
A public holiday was observed on Wednesday in commemoration of Workers’ Day. On Thursday, things turned positive as the market capitalisation increased to N10.963tn.
However, the gains recorded on two trading sessions was not enough to offset the losses recorded previously, making investors lose a total of N198bn.
A total of 1.470 billion shares worth N15.498bn in 18,092 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.432 billion shares valued at N15.089bn that exchanged hands the previous week in 15,342 deals.
The financial services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 610.138 million shares valued at N5.828bn traded in 8,012 deals, thus contributing 41.50 per cent and 37.61 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
The conglomerates industry followed at second place with 227.766 million shares worth N777.211m in 1,558 deals.
The third place was occupied by the consumer goods industry with a turnover of 154.760 million shares worth N4.496bn in 3,622 deals.
Trading in the top three equities, namely Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc and Japaul Oil & Maritime Services Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 403.650 million shares worth N2.103bn in 1,124 deals, contributing 27.46 per cent and 13.57 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
Thirty-two equities appreciated in price while 44 equities depreciated in price last week, compared to the 30 gainers and 40 losers recorded during the previous week.
The top gainers were Japaul Oil, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Forte Oil Plc, Jaiz Bank Plc and UACN Property Development Company Plc, which gained 39.29 per cent, 19.78 per cent, 19.69 per cent, 12.50 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.
Analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited said, “We expect the market to continue to trade with mixed trading pattern and a positive bias at week open as investors look out for bargains on already beaten down stocks.
“We foresee activity levels remaining average in the absence of any catalyst altering the trend.”
