Stock: Investors Dump Bank Shares As Market Dips N52bn
The nation’s stock market dipped by N52.1bn as major price depreciation in banking stocks led to sell-offs, which dragged the market lower.
The market capitalisation of equities declined from N14.70tn to N14.65tn as the All Share Index depreciated by 0.35 per cent to close at 28,432.27 basis points while the year-to-date return dropped to 5.9 per cent.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said the bearish trend in equities market was sustained on Tuesday following price depreciation in Zenith Bank Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.
Activity level was mixed as volume traded rose by 3.4 per cent to 254.86 million units while value traded decreased by 3.1 per cent to N3.04bn.
The top traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank (68.5 million units), FBN Holdings Plc (32.7 million units) and Access Bank Plc (28.8 million units) while Zenith Bank (N1.3bn), GTB (N384.7m) and Access Bank (N259.5m) led by value.
Performance across sectors was poor with all indices declining except the AFR-ICT index, which closed flat.
The banking index led the losers with a 1.1 per cent decline as a result of sustained sell-offs in Zenith Bank, GTB and FBN Holdings.
Similarly, the industrial goods and insurance indices trailed on the back of losses in Chemical and Allied Products Plc, as well as NEM Insurance Plc and Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc.
Price depreciation in Dangote Sugar Refinery and Oando Plc dragged the consumer goods and oil and gas indices lower by 0.82 per cent and 0.18 per cent respectively.
Investor sentiment remained unchanged as market breadth (advance/decline ratio) remained unchanged at 0.3x.
A total of seven gainers were recorded as opposed to 23 losers.
The top seven gainers were Wapic Insurance Plc, Union Bank Nigeria Plc, Law Union and Rock Insurance Company Plc, Lasaco Assurance Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, Cornerstone Insurance and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc.
Their respective share prices gained 10 per cent, 10 per cent, 9.09 per cent, 3.85 per cent, 2.06 per cent, 1.69 per cent and 1.42 per cent.
The top losers were NEM Insurance, Royal Exchange Insurance Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Chams Plc and Chemical and Allied Products.
Their share prices depreciated by 10 per cent, 10 per cent, 9.78 per cent, 9.68 per cent and 9.60 per cent respectively.
“For the rest of the week, we expect corporate earnings release to dictate the direction of the equities market,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities said.
