Stock market records third day of negative close

Nigeria’s equities market decreased by 0.44 percent on Wednesday, thereby recording its third consecutive day of negative close this week.

The stock market has since this month defied impressive full year scorecards released on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) by many listed companies, some proposing to pay dividend to shareholders as well as bonus shares reward.

Stocks that fueled the market’s negative close on Wednesday include Caverton, Consolidated Hallmark, Eterna, FTN Cocoa and Linkage Assurance.

Read also: Transcorp, Eterna, Dangote Sugar, others dip NGX-ASI by 0.51%

“Concerns over declining yields in the secondary market are dampening equity sentiment, as investors shift focus to locking in higher fixed-income returns.

“We anticipate a mixed trading session, with selective buying amid the hunt for attractive yields in the fixed-income space,” Vetiva Research analysts said ahead of Wednesday’s trading.

At the close of trading, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation decreased further from preceding trading day’s highs of 106,904.25 points and N66.942 trillion respectively to 106,436.48 points and
N66.653 trillion.

Caverton decreased most after its share price moved from N2.80 to N2.52, losing 28kobo or 10 percent. It was followed by Consolidated Hallmark which dropped from N3.95 to N3.56, losing 39kobo or 9.87 percent.

Also, Eterna share price moved down from N37.80 to N34.15, losing N3.65 or 9.66 percent, FTN Cocoa decreased from N1.68 to N1.52, losing 16kobo or 9.52 percent while Linkage Assurance dropped from N1.32 to N1.20, losing 12 kobo or 9.09 percent.

Read also: NGX top-10 brokers trade N601bn stocks in two months

Stocks like Fidelity Bank, Access Holdings, UBA, Jaiz Bank and Zenith Bank were actively traded on Wednesday as investors in 11,423 deals exchanged 389,574,254 shares worth N11.309billion.