Slump in Shares of tier one banks GTCO, ZENITH, UBA, ACCESS and FIRSTBANK Leads to N216.58b Market decline

• The Nigerian stock market extended its market decline for the third consecutive session this week owing to slump in the shares of tier one banks like GTCO, despite easing concerns around the revised Capital Gains Tax (CGT). The NGX All Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.23% to close at 144,646.01 points. Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return moderated to 40.53% from 40.86% in the previous session, while the market capitalization shed N216.58bn to settle at N92.00trn.
• The downtrend was driven by persistent profit taking in the tier one banking names, including, GTCO (-1.40%), ZENITHBANK (-2.46%), UBA (-2.31%), ACCESSCORP (-1.59%), and FIRSTHOLDCO (-0.50%), which outweighed mild buying interest in NESTLE (+2.89%), OANDO (+2.39%), and INTBREW (+1.26%).
• Sectoral performance was broadly negative with only the Consumer Goods Index (+0.09%) inching slightly into the positive territory. Conversely, the Insurance Index (-1.35%) led the decliners, followed by the Banking (-1.22%), Oil & Gas (-0.18%), and the Industrial (-0.005%) indices.
• Market activity improved considerably, as trade volume surged by 136.65%, while transaction value rose by 41.74%. ACCESSCORP (-1.59%) topped the trading activity, with 488.36mn units traded, valued at N10.57bn.
• Market breadth closed negative at 0.41x, indicating more market decliners than gainers. NCR (+9.85%) led the seventeen (17) gainers, while LIVINGTRUST (-9.92%) led the forty-two (42) laggards.

NASD Summary

• For the third consecutive session this week, the NASD market maintained its positive momentum, as the NASD Securities Index (NSI) and market capitalization rose by 0.16%, closing at 3,632.52 points and N2.17trn, respectively.
• Market activity weakened, with transacting volume and transaction value declining by 84.57% and 87.69%, respectively.
• SDFCWAMCO (+3.16%) was the sole gainer, while no decliners were recorded in today’s session.