Equity market drops over sell-offs in MTN, GTCO, others

The stock market, on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, declined further by 11 per cent due to sell-offs in stocks of MTN Nigeria, Transnational Power (TransPower), and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), among others.

Other stocks that contributed to the market’s negative performance were Unilever, Axa Mansard, Cornerstone Insurance, Royal Exchange Assurance, Nigeria Breweries, Fidelity Bank, and Julius Berger, among others.

The market capitalisation shed N62 billion or 0.11 per cent to close at N59.115 trillion, as against 59.177 trillion recorded on Monday, March 18.

The All-Share Index, which opened at 104,663.34, also lost 0.11 per cent or 110.03 points to close at 104,553.31.

The Year-To-Date (YTD) return declined to 39.83 per cent.

Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover was lower than the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 29.69 per cent.

Meanwhile, on the loser’s log, Daar Communications led by 9.86 per cent to close at 64k per share, and Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) followed by 9.09 per cent to close at N5.50 per share.

MTN, Zenith Bank, Dangote Sugar raise equity market by N563bn

Sovereign Trust Insurance also lost 8.51 per cent to close at 43k, while UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust trailed by 6.36 per cent to close at N5.15 per share.

Also, FIDSON Healthcare Plc dropped 6.25 per cent to close at N15 per share.

On the gainer’s log, International Energy Insurance led with 10 per cent to close at N1.32 per share, while International Breweries gained 9.89 per cent to close at N4.89 per share.

Juli Plc also rose by 9.85 per cent to close at N5.91, NEM Insurance appreciated by 9.59 per cent to close at N8, while FBN Holdings went up by 9.06 per cent to close at N43.95 per share.

Also, a total of 307.01 million shares valued at N7.59 billion were exchanged in 9,548 deals, compared to 287.45 million shares valued at N10.80 billion in 9,077 deals recorded on Monday.

FBN Holdings led the activity log in both the volume and value chart with 37.81 million shares traded in value of N1.57 billion, followed by United Bank for Africa (UBA) with 36.85 million shares worth N954.38 million.

Access Corporation sold 28.09 million shares worth N649.27 million, Transcorp traded 21.57 million shares valued at N322.62 million, and Fidelity Bank transacted 19.81 million shares worth N200.46 million.

The Star