Market Capitalisation Slumps Below N13trn Mark
Persistent losses at the local bourse dragged the market capitalisation of equities listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange below the N13trn mark on Wednesday.
Investors counted losses totalling N524bn in seven trading days as the market capitalisation dropped from N13.427tn on September 27 to N12.948tn on Wednesday.
The All Share Index fell by 0.79 per cent to 26,598.94 basis points following major price depreciation in Dangote Cement Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Nestlé Nigeria Plc.
The year-to-date loss worsened to -15.4 per cent while activity level advanced as volume and value traded rose to 591.042 million and N7.40bn, respectively.
The most active stocks by volume were Access Bank Plc (52.6 million units), Lafarge Africa Plc (28.2 million units) and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (21.8 million units) while Dangote Cement (N1.8bn), Guinness Nigeria Plc (N607.0m) and GTB (N583.1m) led by value.
Performance across sectors was mixed.
The consumer goods and industrial goods indices lost 1.8 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively, consequent to losses recorded in Nigerian Breweries Nestlé and Dangote Cement.
The insurance index lost 0.8 per cent following sell pressures in AXA Mansard Insurance Plc and Aiico Insurance Plc.
On the flip side, the AFR-ICT index gained 0.7 per cent following gains in MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and Chams Plc.
The banking and oil and gas indices rose by 0.4 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively, as buying interest in Access Bank, UBA Group Plc and Forte Oil Plc.
Investor sentiment weakened as market breadth (advance/decline ratio) fell to 0.8x from the 0.9x recorded on Tuesday.
Losses in 15 stocks outweighed gains in 12 stocks.
The top gainers were Learn Africa Plc, Chams, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Jaiz Bank Plc and Access Bank, whose respective share prices appreciated by 9.8 per cent, 8.33 per cent, 8.33 per cent, 4.26 per cent and 2.80 per cent.
PZ Cussons Plc, NCR Plc, Guinness, United Capital Plc and Neimeth Pharmaceutical Company Plc emerged the top five losers as their share prices shed 10 per cent, 9.09 per cent, 7.69 per cent, 6.98 per cent and 6.52 per cent, respectively.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities said they expected the bearish run to continue as sentiment remained weak.
