Stocks investors lost N136bn at the end of trading last week on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
Suffering a dip which saw mixed sentiments was the All-Share Index, which depreciated by 0.48 per cent or 250.69 base points to close at 52,214.62 on Friday.
All other indices finished higher except for NGX Main Board, NGX 30, NGX Banking, NGX AFR Bank Value, NGX MERI Value, NGX Industrial Goods, and NGX Sovereign Bond which depreciated by 0.85 per cent, 0.12 per cent, 0.99 per cent, 1.45 per cent, 1.11 per cent, 3.36 per cent and 4.83 per cent respectively while the NGX ASeM index closed flat.
At the end of last week, the Year-To-Date returns rose to 1.88 per cent from 1.78 per cent recorded on Thursday.
In the last trading week, a total turnover of 3.602bn shares worth N36.451bn in 27,801 deals was traded by investors on the floor of the NGX against a total of 2.973bn shares valued at N22.828bn that exchanged hands the previous week in 23,765 deals.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 3.150bn shares valued at N27.484 bn traded in 14,987 deals; contributing 87.47 per cent and 75.40 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Conglomerates Industry followed with 99.394m shares worth N219.455m in 901 deals. The third place was the Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 87.434m shares worth N1.628bn in 3,768 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Fidelity Bank Plc, Access Holdings Plc, and FBN Holdings Plc, (measured by volume) accounted for 2.167 bn shares worth N18.650 bn in 5,083 deals, contributing 60.17 per cent and 51.16 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Forty eight equities appreciated lower than 51 equities in the previous week. 30 equities depreciated in price, higher than 26 in the previous week, while 78 equities remained unchanged, lower than 79 recorded in the previous week.
Leading the gainers’ table was the Computer Warehouse Group whose shares appreciated by 56.82 per cent to close at N2.07, and Ardova Plc gained 37.50 per cent to close at N26.40. Transnational Corporation Plc recorded a 33.51 per cent gain to close at N2.59, Multiverse Mining and Exploration Plc gained 32.90 per cent to close at N4.12 and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc gained 27.27 per cent to close at N0.42.
Atop the losers’ chart was C &I Leasing, which dipped by 19.60 per cent to close at N3.20, Access Holdings Plc lost 12 per cent to close at N9.90, Royal Exchange Plc lost 11.48 per cent to close at N0.54, Sunu Assurances Nigeria Plc suffered a 9.26 per cent loss to close at N0.49 and Bua Cement lost 8.02 per cent to close at N90.
Analysts at SCM Capital projected that the mixed sentiments that the market had been experiencing may persist, even as bargain hunting took place as investors took positions in fundamentally sound stocks with fantastic first-quarter earnings.
In his presentation at the Lagos Business School Breakfast meeting (May edition), the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Ltd, Bismarck Rewane, warned that the impact of the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria would remain a threat to consumers’ purchasing power and would likely weigh on the second quarter performance of corporates.
“However, it will be offset by improved digital services and increased availability of cash,” he said.
