On Monday, the first day of trading in the second half of 2024, the equities market kicked off bearishly as selloffs in the shares of Nigerian Exchange Group and 27 other companies led to a loss of N21 billion in cumulative investments.

The All-Share Index (ASI) lost 36.66 points, representing a decline of 0.04 per cent, to close at 100,020.83 points. Market capitalisation also declined by N21 billion to close at N56.581 trillion.

The downturn was driven by price depreciation in large and medium-capitalised stocks, including NGX Group, Fidson Healthcare, Zenith Bank, NASCON Allied Industries, and UAC of Nigeria (UACN).

Measured by market breadth, sentiment was negative as 28 stocks lost compared to 20 gainers. Linkage Assurance emerged as the highest price gainer, rising by 10.00 per cent to close at N1.10 per share.

Africa Prudential followed with a gain of 9.76 per cent to close at N9.00, while Unity Bank rose by 9.74 per cent to close at N1.69 per share.

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Wapic Insurance increased by 8.96 per cent to close at 73 kobo, while Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 8.89 per cent to close at 49 kobo per share.

On the other hand, eTranzact International led the losers’ chart with a decline of 10.00 per cent, closing at N4.50 per share. Fidson Healthcare followed with a decline of 9.70 per cent to close at N13.50, while Cornerstone Insurance shed 9.52 per cent to close at N1.90 per share.

Lasaco Assurance depreciated by 9.41 per cent to close at N2.31, while UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust was down by 8.26 per cent to close at N5.00 per share.

The total volume traded decreased by 46.11 per cent to 274.683 million units, valued at N3.713 billion, and exchanged in 10,112 deals. United Capital led the activity with 26.639 million shares worth N737.255 million. Linkage Assurance followed with 23.913 million shares valued at N26.302 million, while AIICO Insurance traded 14.214 million shares valued at N14.316 million.

CWG traded 11.448 million shares worth N89.398 million, while Universal Insurance traded 11.120 million shares worth N4.039 million.

In a forward-looking statement, United Capital Plc said, “The equities market is expected to be mixed as investors explore opportunistic investment strategies. We anticipate continued cherry-picking of fundamentally sound stocks in the week ahead. Market activities are also expected to increase due to ongoing bank recapitalization, Q2 filings, and anticipated corporate actions in the coming weeks.

“However, elevated interest rates in the fixed-income market are expected to continue negatively impacting the equities market as investors seek high returns in fixed-income securities.

“Overall, fund managers and investors should continue to adopt opportunistic investment strategies to capitalize on market opportunities as they arise.”

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