Nigerian equities opened this week with a continuation of bearish sentiment as investors sought to lock in gains into fixed income securities.
Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) indicated average decline of 0.53 per cent, equivalent to net capital depreciation of N304 billion.
The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the NGX, dropped from its opening index of 102,314.56 points to close at 101,777.12 points. Aggregate market capitalisation of quoted equities declined from its opening value of N57.865 trillion to close at N57.561 trillion.
The decline was driven by widespread selloffs across the sectors, especially within large-cap banking stocks such as Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Fidelity Bank.
There were 10 gainers to 32 losers. Fidelity Bank led the losers' chart with 10 per cent to close at N9.00 per share. Jaiz Bank followed with a decline of 9.69 per cent to close at N2.05. RT Briscoe declined by 8.47 per cent to close at 54 kobo per share. GTCO lost 7.73 per cent to close at N38.20 while Universal Insurance depreciated by 7.69 per cent to close at 36 kobo per share.
On the positive side, UPDC emerged the highest price gainer of 10 per cent to close at N1.43 per share. Morison Industries followed with a gain of 9.77 per cent to close at N2.81. NEM Insurance up by 8.90 per cent to close at N10.40 per share.
DAAR Communication rose by 7.69 per cent to close at 70 kobo while Oando appreciated by 6.77 per cent to close at N13.40 per share.The total volume traded decreased by 55.50 per cent to 326.640 million shares valued at N7.169 billion in 10,777 deals. UBA led the activity chart with 42.254 million shares worth N1.109 billion. Transcorp followed with account of 27.562 million shares valued at N396.168 million. Access Holdings traded 24.62 million shares valued at N465.806 million. Oando traded 22.662 million shares worth N307.711 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 17.534 million shares worth N161.258 million.
Analysts said the downtrend was due to selloffs occasioned by realignment of portfolios towards high-yielding fixed income securities.
"We expect bearish sentiments amongst investors to persist in the local equities market given the attractive returns offered in the fixed-income market. The impact of the high yields in the fixed-income market will continue to drive sell-offs as investors switch their asset classes to less risky assets," United Capital stated.
