The local stock market closed its mid-week trading on a negative note as bears maintained dominance on market, with the anticipated rise in exchange rate and fuel prices. This led the benchmark index, NGXASI, to witness a decline of 0.47%, concluding at 64,625.28 points.
The market downturn was primarily influenced by investors selling pressure on prominent stocks such as Airtel Africa (5.30%), Fidelity Bank (-3.95%), FCMB (-2.81%), Guaranty Trust Holding Company (-0.53%), Access Corporation (-0.59%), and 18 other stocks.
This led the year-to-date return to close at 26.10%, contributing to a 4 basis points rise in the Market Capitalization, which settled at N35.40 trillion. This increase translated to a slight rise in investors’ wealth by N13.28 billion.
Market activity was positive as volume and value traded increased by 4.01% and 59.99% to settle at 291.71 million units and N7.43 billion, respectively.
We expect bearish sentiment in the equities market with the ongoing investigation on the CBN.
Currency Market
The Nigerian Naira depreciated by 1.92% against the US Dollar in the I&E Window, closing at a rate of N759.86/USD.
