Airtel Africa causes market to see first dip in New Year

The bulls could not maintain control of stocks trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday, no thanks to investors who sold shares of Airtel Africa Plc which led the laggards.

Airtel Africa dipped most on the Bourse after its share price lost N135 or 8.26 percent, from
N1635 to N1500.

Depsite bullish start to New Year, analysts at United Capital research said they see room for a brief bearish technical reversal in mid-January.

The market decreased by 1.53percent while investors lost N430billion. The dismal performance has pushed this year’s return to the negative region of -0.75 percent.

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At the close of trading session on Thursday January 5, the market’s benchmark performance indicators – Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and its Market Capitalisation decreased from preceding day high of 51,657.56 points and N28.136 trillion respectively to
50,868.52 points and N27.706trillion.

Sterling Bank, GTCO, Access Corporation, FBN Holdings and Zenith Bank were top-5 traded stocks on Thursday. In 3,673 deals, investors exchanged 138,716,449 shares valued at N1.828billion.

“Looking forward, we anticipate robust market activity and bullish sentiments to continue briefly. The usual January momentum is likely to dominate in the near term, particularly as the yield environment appears to be shifting downwards.
“We believe investors are likely to continue to favour the equities market even in first quarter (Q1) 2023, as we estimate total sovereign maturities in Q1-2023 will print at N2.3trillion while total auctions (bonds and NT-bills) will likely hover around N1.7trillion, creating excess liquidity of N555.2billion,” United Capital research analysts said.

Stock market sees first weekly dip in New Year

By Iheanyi Nwachukwu • January 6, 2023

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.