NGX Index Slides as Investors Reshuffle Portfolio
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) declined at the start of the trading session amid investor portfolio rebalancing ahead of Q1’s close.
The local bourse traded bearish as the ASI and market capitalisation declined by 0.21% to settle at 200,484.43 points and N128.7 trillion, respectively.
The negative outturn was driven by price declines in ZENITHBANK (-2.86%), WAPCO (-3.26%), and GTCO (-0.99%), which offset the positive sentiment in NAHCO (+8.83%) and FIRSTHOLDCO (+0.99%).
Market breadth (0.76x) was also bearish, with 34 losers outstripping 26 gainers. Overall, AUSTINLAZ (+9.98%) was the best-performing counter, while NSLTECH (-10.00%) led the laggards.
Trading activity metrics diverged as total volume traded decreased by 0.32% to 593.3 million units, while total value traded increased by 4.83% to N25.6 billion.
Notably, ACCESSCORP topped the volume with 86.6 million units (14.6% of volume traded), while FIRSTHOLDCO led the value chart with trades worth N4.3 billion (16.6% of value traded).
In today’s rendition, sectoral performance was majorly bearish, with four indices closing lower.
The Insurance (-1.38%), Banking (-0.81%), Industrial Goods (-0.45%), and Consumer Goods (-0.01%) indices all declined on the back of selloffs in AIICO (-2.38%), ZENITHBANK (-2.86%), WAPCO (-3.26%), and DANGSUGAR (-2.79%), respectively.
On the flipside, the Oil & Gas (+0.10%) index gained, supported by price upticks in OANDO (+1.96%). Elsewhere, the commodity index closed flat. #Nigerian Treasury Bills Return Shrinks in Post-Auction Rally