NGX trading floor Nigerian stocks cringed by 0.25 per cent on Monday as trade volume crashed by more than three-fourths, stoking fears as to when lasting buoyancy will return to the market.
BUA Cement and GTCO, two heavyweight equities, triggered the pullback, which in monetary terms equalled N51 billion.
“We expect the market to remain in a lull, with occasional bargain hunting until 9M-2021 results are released,” broker United Capital said in its outlook for stocks this week seen by PREMIUM TIMES.
The bright spot for Monday trade could be found in market breadth, an indicator of investors’ attitude towards trade, which closed on a positive note, with 20 gainers reported compared to 12 laggards.
The all-share index dropped 97.95 points to 38,864.33, while market capitalisation dipped to N20.3 trillion.
The index has lost 3.49 per cent so far this year. TOP FIVE GAINERS
UPL led gainers, appreciating by 9.80 per cent to close at N1.12. Transcorp Hotel went up by 9.70 per cent to N5.43. Courteville rose to N0.35, notching up 9.38 per cent in the process. Oando added 6.07 per cent to end the trade at N5.24. Cutix completed the top 5, climbing by 5.38 per cent to N4.90. TOP FIVE LOSERS
Chams was the worst performing stock, declining by 4.35 per cent to close at N0.22. Sovereign Trust dropped to N0.24, recording 4 per cent depreciation. Mutual Benefits shed 3.33 per cent to close at N0.29. BUA Cement fell to N66, losing 2.94 per cent. Transcorp closed at N0.92, going down by 1.08 per cent. TOP FIVE TRADES
In all, 139.5 million shares estimated at N1.7 billion were traded in 3,539 deals.
Sovereign was the most active stock trading 19.1 million shares worth N4.4 million traded in 44 deals. Fidelity had 11.9 million units of its shares priced at N29 million exchange hands in 85 transactions. GTCO traded 11.1 million shares estimated at N307.1 million in 271 transactions. Courteville had 8 million shares valued at N2.7 million traded in 58 deals. Access traded 6.5 million shares valued at N59.2 million in 173 deals.