Nigerian stocks’ first fall for the year on Thursday saw the market give up its two previous daily gains as investors looked away from a good number of the shares of Airtel Africa put up for sale, pushing the benchmark index 1.53 per cent down and the year-to-date yield into the red.
The telco, the most capitalised company on the bourse, shed 8.3 per cent as the day’s second biggest loser, underscoring the magnitude of its drop on the main index.
As of Wednesday, more companies announced their closed period in the warm-up to the publication of their earnings reports for the financial year that just went by.
Public release of annual financial statements is a major pivot of activity in the market, often driving share price movement.
“This week, we anticipate robust market activity and bullish sentiments to continue,” investment bank United Capital highlighted in its outlook for the week seen by PREMIUM TIMES.
“The usual January momentum is likely to dominate particularly as the yield environment appears to be shifting downwards”.
Market breadth, a marker of investors’ sentiment towards trade, was positive as 20 gainers emerged compared to 16 laggards. The all-share index fell 789 basis points to 50,868.5, while market capitalisation declined to N27.7 trillion.
The index has returned -0.75 per cent since the turn of the year.
Top five gainers
John Holt led gainers, appreciating by 10 per cent to close at N0.88. Honeywell Flour went up 10 per cent to N2.43. Computer Warehouse Group rose to N1.01, notching up 9.8 per cent. UACN added 4.9 per cent to end trade at N10.75. Nigerian Breweries completed the top 5, climbing by 4.21 per cent to N47.
Top five losers
Prestige was the worst-performing stock, declining by 8.7 per cent to close at N0.42. Airtel Africa shed 8.3 per cent to close at N1500. UPL fell to N1.76, losing 7.4 per cent. NPF Microfinance Bank slid to N1.57, recording 7.1 per cent depreciation. Royal Exchange closed at N1.03, going down 6.4 per cent.
Top five trades
Altogether, 138.7 million shares estimated at N1.8 billion were traded in 3,673 deals.
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Sterling Bank was the most active stock with 29.2 million units of its shares worth N41 Million traded in 57 deals. GTCO shares of 19.9 million units, priced at N477.8 million, exchanged hands in 336 transactions.
Access Holdings had 11.3 million shares valued at N99.9 million traded in 191 deals. FBN Holdings traded 11 million shares valued at N121 million in 74 deals. Zenith traded 6.2 million shares estimated at N152.1 million in 244 transactions.
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