NGX Group Kayode Tokede
The stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) last week closed in negative territory ahead of Christmas and New year celebrations.
The bears dictated proceedings in the stock market, as profit-taking activities dominated performance, with the benchmark index recording declines on three of the five trading sessions of the week.
Specifically, the NGX All-share Index (ASI) declined by 90.46 basis points or 0.21 per cent to close at 42,262.85 basis points from 42,353.31 basis points, while market capitalisation dropped N47 billion week-on-week (W-o-W) to N22.060 trillion.
Consequently, the stock market in its Month-till-Date (MtD) and Year-till-Date (YtD) return settled at -2.3per cent and +4.9per cent, respectively
However, the sector gauges did not mirror the benchmark index as four of the five sub-indices tracked closed in green.
The NGX Banking, NGX Insurance, NGX Consumer Goods and the NGX Industrial indices gained 0.10 per cent, 1.85 per cent, 0.78 per cent and 0.43 per cent to close at 395.76 points, 194.46 points, 554.68 points and 2,090.00 points respectively. However, the NGX Oil & Gas index fell by 0.52 per cent to close at 348.81 points.
The market breadth for the week was positive as 33 equities appreciated in price, 25 equities depreciated in price, while 99 equities remained unchanged. Mutual Benefits Assurance led the gainers table by 23.08 per cent to close at 32 kobo, per share. Consolidated Hallmark Insurance followed with a gain of 20.69 per cent to close at 70 kobo, while Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) went up by 20.65 per cent to close to N5.55, per share.
On the other side, Julius Berger led the decliners table by 9.88 per cent to close at N22.35, per share. MRS Oil Nigeria followed with a loss of 9.85 per cent to close at N12.35, while Cornerstone Insurance declined by 9.80 per cent to close at 46 kobo, per share.
Overall, a total turnover of 965.061 million shares worth N12.455 billion in 14,802 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.317 billion shares valued at N15.330 billion that exchanged hands previous week in 18,292 deals.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 574.223 million shares valued at N4.861 billion traded in 7,794 deals; contributing 59.50 per cent and 39.03 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with 246.783 million shares […]
