NGX Lost N134bn as Investors Dump Airtel Shares
The equity segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Tuesday pulled back from making further trajectory again, losing N134 billion following Airtel Africa Plc’s negative share price movement.
Airtel had lost 5.2% last week but reclaimed the same on Monday and then another selling rally began on Tuesday, dragging key performance indicators lower by 0.48 per cent.
Data from the local bourse show that equities market capitalisation lost N134 billion or 0.48 per cent to close at N28.021 trillion from N28.155 trillion traded the previous day.
Also, the Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index (NGX-ASI) decline by 246.48 points, representing a dip of 0.48 per cent to close at 51,446.60 from 51,693.08 recorded at the previous trading.
Accordingly, the year-to-date returns stood at 0.39 per cent.
While noting that the market breadth was positive with 16 gainers as against 13 losers, Stockbrokers emphasise that the market cap haircut was impacted mainly by losses recorded by Airtel Africa stocks.
NEM Insurance led the losers’ chart in percentage terms by 10 per cent to close at N4.05 per share. Chellarams Plc followed with a loss of 9.90 per cent to close at N1.82, while Champion Breweries was down by 9.58 per cent to close at N4.34 per share.
Cornerstone Insurance dropped by 6.67 per cent to close at 56k, while Honeywell Flour Mills shed 4.96 per cent to close at N2.30 per share.
On the other hand, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria drove the gainers’ chart in percentage terms by 9.43 per cent to close at N1.16 per share. Mutual Benefits Assurance followed with 7.14 per cent to close at 30k, while Academy Press rose by 5.65 per cent to close at N1.31 per share.
Lasaco Assurance went up by 4.44 per cent to close at 94k, while Chams Plc rose by 4.35 per cent to close at 24k per share. Similarly, the total volume of trades increased by 51 per cent to 345.49 million units valued at N8.29 billion exchanged in 4,184 deals.
Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings topped the activity chart with 151.39 million shares valued at N1.7 billion.
BUA Cement followed with 30.46 million shares worth N2.92 million, while Zenith Bank traded 25.46 million shares valued at N619.71 million. Fidelity Bank traded 18.56 million shares valued at N87.56 million, while Transcorp transacted 13.01 million shares worth N15.43 million.
On the sectoral side, the Insurance (-1.8%) and Consumer Goods (-0.1%) indices closed red, while the Industrial Goods (+1.5%) and Banking (+0.1%) indices gained. The Oil & Gas index closed flat.# NGX Lost N134bn as Investors Dump Airtel Shares