Sunu, Cornerstone, RT Briscoe cause NGX first dip in 2025

Nigeria’s equities market on Tuesday recorded its first negative close in year 2025 as investors sold mostly shares of Sunu Assurances, Cornerstone Insurance, RT Briscoe, FTN Cocoa, and Veritas Kapital Assurance – all major laggard on the Lagos bourse at the close of trading.

Sunu dipped the most after its share price decreased from N11.12 to N10.01, losing N1.11 or 9.98 percent. Cornerstone followed after its share price dropped from N4.61 to N4.15, shedding 46kobo or 9.98 percent.

RT Briscoe dropped from N3 to N2.70, losing 30kobo or 10 percent. FTN Cocoa decreased from N2 to N1.80, losing 20kobo or 10 percent, while Veritas Kapital dipped from N1.70 to N1.53, losing 17kobo or 10percent.

This record negative on Tuesday has moderated the gains seen this to +0.46 percent. The market defied some analysts expectations of further rally.

“We expect ongoing portfolio rebalancing from fund managers to sway market direction, while we foresee investors remaining active and trading in line with anticipation of FY’24 earnings,” Lagos-based Vetiva research analysts said ahead of Tuesday’s trading.

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“This week, we anticipate a sustained bullish momentum in the local bourse this week. We expect dominant buying activity and bargain hunting to characterise trading activities as investors position in fundamentally strong stocks to start the year.

“In our view, investors will continue to rotate into sectors – particularly value stocks – poised to record impressive earnings performance in the current year. However, mild sell-offs may occur on certain tickers as investors rebalance their portfolios toward more attractive opportunities,” Meristem analysts said in their January 6 note.

“On a balance of factors, we maintain a positive outlook for the week- barring any dampening sentiment trigger and expect the NGX All-Share Index (NGXASI) to close in the green zone,” they further said.

Stocks like FBN Holdings, AIICO, Tantalizers, Universal Insurance and Regency Assurance, were actively traded stocks as investors in 16,617 deals exchanged 1,112,216,698 shares worth N14.638billion.

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation depreciated by 0.24 percent from preceding day’s highs of 103,648.24 points and N63.203trillion respectively to 103,398.82 points and N63.051 trillion.