Nigeria’s equities market ended its two-day northward movement on Thursday as investors chose to sell down stakes in counters like Dangote Cement Plc and UACN Plc.
Increased sell-side activity seen Thursday on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) pushed down the cumulative value of listed stocks by N391billion.
UACN Plc recorded the highest decline after its share price moved from preceding day high of N10 to N9, losing N1 or 10percent, while that of Dangote Cement Plc decreased from day open high of N280 to N252, shedding N28 or N10percent.
The record negative close on the Exchange confirmed analysts earlier position that the previous gains were temporary.
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“From our perspective, we believe the rebound in domestic equities is largely a temporary respite. As a result, while we believe there is some room for near-term rebound in subsequent trading sessions, we retain a month-long bearish perspective on the equities market as sell pressures resume later in the month,” United Capital research analysts had earlier said in their December 9 note to stock investors.
As the stock market decreased by 1.77 percent, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All Share Index (ASI) moved from preceding day’s high of 42, 435.16 points to 41,685.22 points, while Market Capitalisation dipped from N22.142trillion to N21.751trillion. The market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) printed lower at 3.51 percent.
FBN Holdings, Access Bank, Sterling Bank, Unity Bank and Zenith Bank were most traded stocks on the Nigeria Bourse on Thursday.
In 3,874 deals, equity dealers exchanged 473,467,437 units valued at N5.175billion.
