NGX sheds N407bn as banking stocks drag market lower

Nigeria’s equities market lost N407.3 billion in market value on Monday as renewed selling pressure, led by banking stocks, pushed the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index down by 0.25 per cent.

The benchmark index fell to 247,736.24 points from its previous close, reducing its year-to-date return to 59.20 per cent, while total market capitalisation declined to N160.85 trillion.

The decline came amid weak market breadth, with 29 stocks closing in the red against 26 gainers, indicating that losses outnumbered advances despite pockets of buying interest in selected stocks.

SUNU Assurances, Critical Minerals Financing Corporation, Oando, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank and Zichis Agro-Allied Industries led the decliners, while Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals, UPDC, Guinness Nigeria, Livestock Feeds and Multitrex Integrated Foods ranked among the gainers.

The market’s breadth settled at 0.9 times, reflecting the predominance of declining stocks and reinforcing the negative close.

Sectoral performance was mixed, although losses in the banking and oil and gas sectors weighed on the overall market performance.

The banking index recorded the steepest sectoral decline, shedding 1.81 per cent, while the oil and gas sector fell by 0.21 per cent. The insurance and other sectors recorded marginal gains of 0.05 per cent each, while the industrial and commodity sectors remained broadly unchanged.

The banking sector’s decline underscored its role in Monday’s market weakness, as investors continued to reposition their portfolios amid selling pressure on financial stocks.

Trading activity presented a mixed picture, with the number of shares traded and the transaction count increasing, even as the total value of transactions declined.

A total of 405.39 million shares changed hands in 52,977 deals, representing increases of 25.88 per cent in trading volume and 40.11 per cent in deal count, respectively.

However, transaction value fell by 3.07 per cent to N19.87 billion, suggesting that the higher volume of shares traded did not translate into a corresponding increase in the value of market activity.

The combination of rising trading volume and deal count with lower turnover reflected increased trading activity alongside a decline in the aggregate value of transactions.

Monday’s performance reversed the market’s previous direction, with the All-Share Index’s year-to-date gain narrowing to 59.20 per cent, while the decline in market capitalisation highlighted the impact of the day’s price movements on investors’ holdings.