The stock market opened for the week extending the negative performance of last week with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited All-Share Index (ASI) declining by 0.36 per cent to close at 37,857.89 yesterday. Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N70.9 billion to close lower at N19.723 trillion.
The market had went into the bears’ territory last week due to profit-taking after a positive performance the previous week. Specifically, the market dipped by 0.57 per cent. That bear run was extended to yesterday following sustained profit-taking in MTN Nigeria Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and BUA Cement Plc.
Although only 13 stocks depreciated compared with 16 price gainers, losses by the bellwethers propelled the negative close. Market operators had said the market would display a mixed trend, on profit-taking and repositioning for half-year earnings reporting season kicking off any time soon.
“Again, the way to go is target dividend-paying stocks and fundamentally sound companies with growth prospects in 2021, looking the way of mispriced equities ahead of interim dividend announcement. This is especially given that despite the seeming improvements, fixed income yield continues to offer a negative real rate of return due to the galloping inflation,” they had advised investors.
CWG Plc le the price losers with 9.5 per cent, trailed by International Breweries Plc with 5.6 per cent. Champion Breweries Plc and FBN Holdings Plc went down by 3.2 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively. AXA Mansard Insurance Plc and Zenith Bank Plc depreciated by 2.2 per cent apiece.
On the positive side, Tripple Gee & Company Plc led the price gainers with 9.8 per cent as investors continued to react to the impressive full year results of the company. The manufacturer of financial instruments, secure and commercial documents, labels and flexible packaging materials, posted a growth of 129 per cent in profit after tax (PAT) for the year ended March 31, 2021. Its PAT rose from N37.535 million to N85.880 million in 2021. The board has recommended a dividend of seven kobo per share, up from five kobo last year.
Regency Alliance Insurance Plc closed as the second highest price gainer with 8.8 per cent, while UPDC Plc and FTN Cocoa Processors Plc garnered 7.4 per cent and 5.8 per cent in that order.
Meanwhile, trading activities was mixed as volume traded fell by 22.6 per cent to 187.2 million shares while value traded rose by 6.7 per cent to N2.9 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank Plc (35.3 million shares),Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc (14.2 million shares), and United Bank for Africa Plc (14.1 million shares).
Thisday