NGX records first negative close this week as MTNN leads laggards

Nigeria’s equities market on Tuesday recorded its first negative close this week as profit-taking in stocks like MTN Nigeria and other major laggards rerouted the market southward.

The market decreased by 0.18 percent at the close of trading. The share price of MTN Nigeria decreased most from N255.50 to N240, adding N15.50 or 6.07 percent. It was followed by another major laggard, Livestock Feeds which dropped from N8.55 to N7.72, losing 83kobo or 9.71 percent.

“Looking forward, the equities market might remain dovish due to elevated interest rate environment in the fixed-income market, we still expect bearish sentiments to linger in the background.

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“Generally, investors await Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision in their upcoming meeting in May. Concurrently, retail investors are engaging in profit-booking, resulting in selloffs that impede the consistent upward movement of stock prices,” United Capital research analysts said in their April 28 note to investors.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation decreased from preceding trading highs of 106,116.18 points and N66.693 trillion respectively to 105,931.18 points and N66.577 trillion.

Shares of Fidelity Bank, MTN Nigeria, Access Holdings, GTCO and Universal Insurance were actively traded as investors in 16,619 deals exchanged 733,051,521 shares valued at N35.288 billion.