The Nigerian stock market had a rough start to the week as losses at Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and 29 other companies caused the total capitalization to drop by N289 billion.
The closing value of the All-Share Index was 104,136.35 points, a decrease of 511.02 points or 0.49 percent. Similarly, the market capitalization value dropped to N58.880 trillion at the end, losing N289 billion.
Price depreciation of large- and medium-cap stocks—Dangote Sugar Refinery, Transcorp Power, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), and FBNH Holdings—was the primary cause of the market’s poor performance. Eyes Of Lagos reports,
United Capital Plc stated that they “expect the fixed income market’s activities to continue standing as key demotivators for equities investments” in the future.
A bearish spell will also continue to be placed on risky asset classes due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) signals of a hawkish posture at its upcoming meeting, which is scheduled for March 25 and 26, 2024, in accordance with its inflation targeting framework.
However, given the level of activity by the bulls in the market, pending the release of the financial statements of some corporates (particularly the top tier banks), the dividend season and strong corporate resilience, we expect further bargain hunting for the rest of the week.”
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, closed negative as 20 stocks advanced, while 30 declined. Ellah Lakes recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N3.63, per share. Morison Industries followed with a gain of 9.93 per cent to close at N1.55 and SUNU Assurance up by 9.48 per cent to close at N1.27, per share.
Caverton Offshore Support Group rose by 9.38 per cent to close at N1.75, while Secure Electronic Technology gained 9.09 per cent to close at 60 kobo, per share.
Conversely, Jaiz Bank trailed behind with a 9.92% decline to settle at N2.18, per share, while Dangote Sugar Refinery and International Energy Insurance headed the losers’ table by 10% each to close at N53.10 and N1.35, respectively.
