Banking Sell-Off Wipes N407bn Off NGX

The Nigerian stock market opened the week in the red on Monday, losing N407.3 billion in market value.

Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed market capitalisation fell to N160.85 trillion from N161.26 trillion recorded on Friday. The All-Share Index (ASI) also declined by 0.25 per cent to close at 247,736.24 points.

The downturn was driven by heavy sell-offs in banking stocks. The NGX Banking Index dropped to 2,567.52 points as Access Holdings lost 4.24 per cent, Zenith Bank 4.23 per cent, Fidelity Bank 2.62 per cent, First HoldCo 2.54 per cent and UBA 0.81 per cent.

The Oil & Gas Index also dipped, dragged by a 7.55 per cent fall in Oando.

Despite the broad decline, some stocks recorded strong gains. Neimeth Pharmaceuticals and UPDC REIT both rose 10 per cent, Guinness Nigeria gained 9.93 per cent, and Livestock Feeds rose 9.89 per cent to lead the gainers’ chart.

Trading activity was upbeat, with 405.3 million shares worth traded across 52,891 deals, representing a 25.8 per cent rise in volume.

The NGX Consumer Goods and Insurance indices closed marginally higher, but were not enough to offset losses from banking heavyweights.

Economic Confidential is a magazine published and produced by Image Merchant Promotion (IMPR) Limited, an Abuja-based Public Relations (PR) outfit with specialty in Media Relations, Crisis Communication, Social Media, Publishing, and Integrated Marketing Communication.