Trading on the Nigerian Exchange on Wednesday was characterized by depreciation in investors’ investments as the dipping the total market value to N66.14 trillion.
The loss was recorded despite sector-wide gains and a strong performance from insurance stocks, the weighed down by losses in high cap stocks such as MTNN and ZENITHBANK.
Available data from the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), the supervisory entity for the local bourse, trading activity was exceptionally high, with volume surging by 1,549% to 5.76 billion units and value traded increasing by 2,172%.
The day’s trading activity was largely driven by WAPCO, which accounted for 4.47 billion units exchanged for N330.14 billion, dominating both volume and value traded.
According to the NGX, the surge was linked to Holcim Group’s internal restructuring, which involved the transfer of a 27.77% stake in Lafarge Africa Plc from Associated International Cement Limited to Davis Peak Holdings Limited. The two listed entities are wholly owned by Holcim Group. However, despite the impressive performance, WAPCO’s stock price remained unchanged.
Similarly, another notable event was the price adjustment for TRANSCOHOT, following a dividend payout of N0.64, bringing its ex-dividend price to N135.36 from the previous close of N136.00.
The sectorial performance trend reflected that the Insurance sector led market gains, rising by 2.64%, driven by strong performances in MBENEFIT 10.00%, ROYALEX 9.88%, NEM 9.84%, LASACO 9.56% and SUNUASSUR 7.69%, amongst others.
Also, the Consumer Goods index recorded a 0.35% increase as gains in NESTLE 2.56%, NB 1.05%, despite declines in DANSUGAR (-0.86%), CHAMPION (-5.00%) and HONYFLOUR (-1.56%).
The Banking index extended its two-day upward trend with a 0.13% gain, largely due to gains in GTCO 1.90%, STERLINGNG 2.89%, ACCESSCORP 0.22% which outweighed declines in ZENITHBANK (-1.11%), WEMABANK (-0.45%) while the Oil and Gas sector returned to the green, benefiting from gains in ETERNA 3.91% and JAPAULGOLD 0.51%, while the Industrial Goods index closed flat.
