…Naira Records First Gain In Week At FX Market
Trading on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) sustained bearish momentum for four consecutive days on Thursday with the NGX All-Share Index (NGXASI) dipping by 0.05% and settling at 104,858.77 points, thereby decreasing the year-to-date gain to 1.88%.
As a result, the market capitalization dropped to N65.75 trillion, representing N35. 34 billion loss to investors
Similarly, data from the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on the day’s trading trend reflected that market activity indicators also declined as trade volume and value dipped by 77.28% and 49.51%, respectively at the close of the trading session on Thursday, demonstrating investors’ cautious stance.
When analyzed on sectoral performance basis, the indicators was mixed as two out of the five sectors closed in the red as the Banking index led the losers, declining by 0.43% following declines in ACCESSCORP (-1.79%), FCMB (-1.64%), FIRSTHOLDCO (-0.92%) and ZENITHBANK (-1.37%) despite gains in UBA 1.16% and WEMABANK 2.37%.
Similarly, the Industrial index marginally declined while the Consumer Goods index rose by 0.39% following gains in GUINESS 1.27%, INTBREW 1.96%, NB 2.00% while the Insurance index also gained 0.13% despite profit taking in ROYALEX (-8.24%), CUSTODIAN (6.98%), SUNUASSUR (-0.20%) as gains in WAPIC 4.26%, LINKASSURE 2.36% helped to keep the index afloat. At the end of the trading, the Oil and Gas index closed flat.
A further analysis of the NGX data revealed that FIDELITYBK dominated the volume chart with 40.03 million units exchanging hands, which accounted for 12.89% of the total volume traded even when the stock price remained unchanged at N 17.00. The bank was followed by VERITASKAP, which exchanged 37.17 million units and accounted for 11.9% of the total volume traded after appreciating by 8.41% to close at N 1.64 per share.
On the value chart, ZENITHBANK dominated and accounted for 17.16%, following a decline of (-1.37%).
In a related development, at the foreign exchange (FX) market, the naira recorded its first gain of the week, appreciating by 0.20% in exchange for the US dollar to close at N1,530.52.
