The domestic bourse closed the mid-week session on a negative note as Bears maintain hold on equities. The benchmark All-Share Index (NGXASI) declined by 13bps to close at 97,343.42 points as against 97,473.98 points in the prior session.
The bearish performance was primarily driven by sell-off pressure in major stocks, including UBA (-4.35%), Fidelity Bank (-3.41%), Zenith Bank (-3.20%), Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (-1.24%), FirstBank Nigeria Holdings (-1.02%), Access Corporation (-0.58%), and 24 others.
Consequently, the year-to-date return settled at 30.18%. Similarly, the overall market capitalization declined 0.13% to close at N55.06 trillion as investors’ lost N73.85 billion.
Market activity for the day was positive as both volume and value traded increased by 15.97% and 22.87% to 355.55 million units and N7.14 billion, respectively.
We expect bears to extend its dominance on equities in the coming session as investors await April inflation data as well as interest in the FGN Bond auction.
CURRENCY MARKET:
The Nigerian Naira depreciated by 4.04% against US Dollar in the NAFEM Window, closing at a rate of ₦1,459.02.
