As the holiday season grips the nation, the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) experienced a bearish trend on its last trading day before the Christmas break. The All-Share Index (ASI) concluded at 74,023.27 points, marking a 0.36% decline from the previous day’s all-time high of 74,289.02.
The market capitalization took a hit, witnessing a loss of N145 billion, causing a decline to N40.507 trillion. The trading volume also saw a significant drop to 423.30 million units compared to the previous day’s 760.93 million units. Despite this, there was a notable increase in trading value, which appreciated to N16.585 billion from N13.03 billion on the previous day.
Notable gainers on the stock market included MULTIVERSE, which surged by 10.00% to close at N13.97; TRANSCOHOT, also displaying an impressive 10.00% increase to close at N63.80; INFINITY, following closely with a 9.95% gain to close at N4.53; UCAP, climbing by 9.79% to close at N23.00; and DAARCOMM, rising by 9.52% to close at N0.69.
Conversely, some stocks experienced losses, including CONHALLPLC, which faced an 8.73% decline to close at N1.15; INTBREW, showing an 8.33% decrease to close at N4.40; PRESTIGE, declining by 7.84% to close at N0.47; ABCTRANS, down by 7.32% to close at N0.76; and GUINEAINS, facing a 6.90% decrease to close at N0.27.
In terms of the most traded stocks by volume, UNIVINSURE led with 41.94 million units, followed by TRANSCORP with 41.93 million units, MBENEFIT with 30.2 million units, JAIZBANK with 27.58 million units, and ZENITHBANK with 26.3 million units.
When it comes to trading value, GEREGU took the lead with N6.62 billion, followed by SEPLAT with N2.77 billion, ZENITHBANK with N1 billion, GTCO with N829.3 million, and MTNN with N550.6 million.
The trading sentiment for stocks in the SWOOT category was mixed, with ZENITHBANK and MTNN experiencing losses and GTCO recording a marginal gain. The other category members, including AIRTELAFRI, BUACEMENT, BUAFOODS, DANGCEM, and SEPLAT, remained unchanged in terms of pricing.
For tier-1 banks, trading sentiment was predominantly negative, as ACCESSCORP, UBA, and ZENITHBANK all experienced losses, while GTCO recorded a marginal gain. FBNH, on the other hand, remained unchanged.
As the markets take a pause for the festive season, investors will be closely monitoring these fluctuations as they prepare for the resumption of trading in the new year.
