The Nigerian Exchange Limited halted the gains recorded in recent weeks following the release of the inflation figure for May on Thursday.
According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, inflation for May 2023 increased by 22.41 per cent as a result of the surge in the prices of food in Nigeria.
This information rattled traders at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, causing profit-taking as they liquidate their equities for cash, though their eyes remain on some downstream stocks in the market.
This resulted in the 12.12 per cent growth posted by the energy sector at the close of transactions.
However, this was not enough to keep the market northwards, as it pointed to the opposite direction after the banking index lost 4.16 per cent, the insurance space crashed by 0.67 per cent, the consumer goods index fell by 0.44 per cent, and the industrial goods counter depreciated by 0.21 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) moderated by 789.89 points to 59,195.21 points from 59,985.10 points, while the market capitalisation deflated by N430 billion to N32.232 trillion from N32.662 trillion.
Investor sentiment was weak yesterday as 40 stocks finished on the losers’ chart and 36 stocks ended on the gainers’ table, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Sunu Assurances lost 10.00 per cent to trade at 45 Kobo, Cornerstone Insurance fell by 9.73 per cent to N1.02, McNichols depreciated by 9.33 per cent to 68 Kobo, Access Holdings went down by 9.24 per cent to N14.25, and RT Briscoe declined by 8.82 per cent to 31 Kobo.
During the session, the trio of MRS Oil, Transcorp Hotel, and Total Energies gained 10.00 per cent each to quote at N68.75, N13.31, and N336.70 apiece, as Ikeja Hotel rose by 9.97 per cent to N3.31, and eTranzact improved by 9.92 per cent to N5.32.
The most traded stock on Thursday was UBA, which exchanged 192.8 million units valued at N2.4 billion, Access Holdings traded 121.5 million units valued at N2.0 billion, Fidelity Bank transacted 102.6 million units worth N726.7 million, GTCO exchanged 99.9 million units worth N3.3 billion, and Sterling Bank sold 79.3 million units for N238.3 million.
Data from the bourse revealed that investors traded 1.2 billion equities worth N15.4 billion in 12,611 deals yesterday compared with the 1.3 billion worth N21.1 billion traded in 11,947 deals a day earlier, implying an increase in the number of deals by 5.56 per cent, and a decline in the trading volume and value by 7.69 per cent and 27.01 per cent, respectively.
