Investors’ Portfolios Shrinks by 0.21% on Sell-Off in Banking Stocks

By Dipo Olowookere

A 0.21 per cent loss was suffered by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday as profit-taking by investors remained.

It was observed that the bourse weakened further yesterday due to selling pressure in the banking space, which closed lower by 0.57 per cent, overpowering the gains recorded by the other sectors.

Data revealed that the insurance counter appreciated by 1.13 per cent, the energy index expanded by 0.92 per cent, the industrial goods sector improved by 0.08 per cent, and the consumer goods counter increased marginally by 0.01 per cent.

When trading activities finished for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 210.15 points to 98,081.38 points from the preceding day’s 98,291.53 points and the market capitalisation was down by N127 billion to settle at N59.432 trillion compared with the previous day’s N59.559 trillion.

Business Post reports that investor sentiment was strong during the trading day amid the decline in investors’ portfolios, as the bourse finished with 16 depreciating shares and 29 appreciating shares, implying a positive market breadth index.

Aradel Holdings depreciated further on Thursday by 10.00 per cent as a result of a sell-off to close at N694.80, Regency Alliance lost 8.82 per cent to 62 Kobo, DAAR Communications shrank by 6.78 per cent to 55 Kobo, UAC Nigeria dropped 6.70 per cent to close at N20.20, and Oando slumped by 5.82 per cent to N76.00.

On the flip side, Golden Guinea Breweries appreciated by 10.00 per cent to quote at N3.74, Deap Capital gained 9.85 per cent to sell for N1.45, Transcorp Power rose by 9.68 per cent to N330.90, Jaiz Bank grew by 8.64 per cent to N2.39, and Transcorp Hotels increased by 7.78 per cent to N97.00.

The trading volume, value and number of deals went down by 9.86 per cent, 31.11 per cent, and 7.73 per cent, respectively.

A total of 232.2 million units valued at N6.2 billion were transacted in 7,175 deals during the session compared with the 257.6 million units worth N9.0 billion traded in 7,776 deals a day earlier.

Sterling Holdings topped the activity chart after it transacted 42.8 million units worth N213.0 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 20.1 million units valued at N751.8 million, GTCO sold 19.6 million units for N1.0 billion, Access Holdings traded 16.3 million units valued at N324.6 million, and UBA exchanged 11.1 million units worth N271.7 million.