The Nigerian Stock Exchange Limited witnessed a bearish trend in post-Christmas trading, with the All-Share Index (ASI) experiencing a decline by 0.34%, ultimately closing at 73,768.64 points. This downturn led to equities losing N143 billion, resulting in a drop in market capitalization to N40.367 trillion.
Despite the overall decline, market breadth displayed a positive outlook with 41 gainers compared to 21 losers. The trading volume saw a slight increase to 432.91 million units, up from 423.30 million units on December 22. However, the traded value witnessed a decrease to N12.94 billion, in comparison to the previous Friday’s N16.59 billion.
Top gainers included ETERNA, MANSARD, MULTIVERSE, INFINITY, and IMG, all registering notable gains. Conversely, UACN, DEAPCAP, CALVERTON, ROYALEX, and TANTALIZER emerged as the top losers.
JAIZBANK led the top traded stocks in terms of volume with 35.38 million units, followed by TRANSCORP, UNITYBNK, GTCO, and UCAP. GEREGU took the lead in terms of traded value, followed by GTCO, AIRTELAFRI, ZENITHBANK, and UCAP.
The trading sentiment for stocks worth over N1 trillion was mixed, with MTNN, GTCO, and ZENITH BANK recording price gains, while DANGCEM faced a notable decline. Notably, BUACEMENT, BUAFOODS, AIRTELAFRI, and SEPLAT witnessed no price changes.
Within the tier-1 banks, GTCO and ZENITHBANK recorded price gains, whereas FBNH and UBA faced price declines, with ACCESSCORP experiencing no price change.
As the Nigerian Stock Exchange continues to navigate these fluctuations, investors are closely monitoring the market’s performance for potential implications on their portfolios and investment strategies.
