Investors Exchange Over 400m Equities As NGX Records First Loss After 6 Days of Trading
- The Nigerian stock market has ended the week on a weak note as investors lost N82 billion billion on Friday
- Heavy declines in eTranzact International and other major laggards dragged the market into the red zone.
- Secure Electronic Technology, VFD Group, Access Holdings, Sterling Holdings ranked among the most actively traded stocks
Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of business journalism experience with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited recorded its first loss in six consecutive trading sessions on Friday, declining by 0.09% at the close of business.
The slip was influenced by selling pressure on Nigerian stocks in the industrial goods, insurance, and consumer goods sectors, with their respective indices going down by 1.39%, 0.62%, and 0.13%.
Source: Getty Images
This occurred despite the energy space growing by 0.98%, the banking index appreciating by 0.97%, and the commodity counter increasing by 0.49%.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 120.15 points to 140,545.69 points from 140,665.84 points, while the market capitalisation dropped by ₦82 billion to ₦88.922 trillion from ₦89.004 trillion.
The bourse ended with 31 price gainers and 21 price losers, reflecting a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Activity levels improved as investors transacted 434.7 million equities valued at ₦16.2 billion in 23,729 deals, compared with 378.2 million equities worth ₦12.4 billion traded in 22,935 deals on Thursday.
This indicated that the volume of transactions, the value of trades, and the number of deals soared by 14.94%, 30.65%, and 3.47%, respectively.
Top losers
- Mutual Benefits gave up 7.80%, closing at ₦3.90.
- Lasaco Assurance depreciated by 5.97% to ₦2.99.
- DAAR Communication plunged by 4.50% to ₦1.06.
- PZ Cussons lost 3.33% to ₦34.85.
- NGX Group crashed by 3.30% to ₦60.15.
Source: Getty Images
Top gainers
- Regency Alliance gained 9.93% to finish at ₦1.66.
- eTranzact grew by 9.93% to ₦14.95.
- Chellarams rose by 9.92% to ₦13.30.
- Industrial and Medical Gases jumped by 9.91% to ₦36.60.
- John Holt inflated by 9.56% to ₦7.45.
Top active trades
- Secure Electronic Technology was the busiest, trading 71.4 million units worth ₦58.7 million.
- Access Holdings exchanged 41.0 million units for ₦1.1 billion.
- Sterling Holdings transacted 37.2 million units valued at ₦279.0 million.
- Regency Alliance sold 20.2 million units worth ₦33.5 million.
- Chams traded 19.4 million units valued at ₦62.9 million.
Naira exchange rate strengthens
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that naira's strong performance in the official and unofficial foreign exchange markets.
In the official market, the Central Bank of Nigeria's latest data showed that at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the naira gained 0.33% to close at N1,501.29 per dollar.
The CBN is preparing to hold its next Monetary Policy Meeting from Monday.
Source: Legit.ng
