Investors have not had the best start to 2019 as the equities market plunged further by 0.78 percent today. The All Share Index settled lower compared to Friday, extending the YtD loss to -3.84%.
Consequently, Investors have recorded losses amounting to N384.18 billion since trading opened for the year as the market capitalisation settled at N11.34 trillion.
Analysts at Elixir Investment believe the downward trend would persist as political headwinds affect Investors’ sentiment.
‘’We anticipate a continuum in the current trading pattern due to dearth of catalyst to propel the market compounded by forthcoming elections and the uncertainty that accompanies it. Technical analysis also support a general downturn in the bourse in the month of January often referred to as the “January effect” ’’
In today’s trading, Diamond bank led the advancers as shares appreciated 10 percent to close at N1.98. Wapic Insurance also gained 10 percent to close at 44k while A.g. leventis appreciated by 7.41 to close at 29k per share.
Conversely, NEM insurance plc and Resort Savings shed 10 percent each to close at N2.34 and 45k respectively, MRS oil fell by 9.92 percent to close at N23.15 to lead the laggers.
Ahead of the proposed merger between Access Bank Plc and Diamond Bank in H1 2019, Diamond bank shares seem to be in demand after topping the actively traded stocks list which featured banking stocks including Zenith, First Bank, Guaranty Trust bank and access in that order.
Total shares traded for the day stood at 222 million as N3.34 billion was traded in 3,746 deals.
SEGUN ADAMS
