MTN, others drive over N300bn market loss as week opens

Nigeria’s equities market opened the new week in red, down by 1.11percent or N312billion. The record negative close on Monday July 25 was driven among others by MTN Nigeria Plc which led the decliners after its share price dropped by N16 or 6.99percent, from N229 to N213.

“We expect the impact of the increased benchmark lending rate on equity markets to continue to take effect, namely a bear market. Nevertheless, investors are expected to continue stock-picking in anticipation of the half-year (H1) 2022 earnings season,” according to Lagos-based United Capital Research analysts in their July 25 note.

The top laggard list includes United Capital which decreased from N12.70 to N12, after shedding 70kobo or 5.51percent, and Cutix which dipped from N2.38 to N2.25, losing 13kobo or 5.46percent.

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The stock market’s performance indicators –All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation – decreased from week-open highs of 51,979.92 points and N28.030trillion respectively to 51,400.53 points and N27.718trillion.

“We anticipate H1:2022 earnings releases and dividend declarations by companies to continue during the week. We note that this could lead to buying interest on counters with strong performance,” said Meristem research analysts in their July 25 market note.

However, they expect investors to favour the fixed income market, “considering the recent hike in rate by the Monetary Policy Committee and the resultant increase in yields in the fixed income market. Thus, this week, we expect the market to sustain the bearish mood from last week in the equities market.”

In 4,314 deals, investors exchanged 98,852,029 shares valued at N2.514billion. UBA, Zenith, Transcorp, GTCO and Dangote Sugar were top-5 traded stocks on the Nigerian Bourse.

The stock market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) decreased to +20.33percent on Monday