Bearish trend hits equity market, N25 billion erased at first trading day in April 

Market capitalization experienced a contraction of N24.83 billion, ending the day at N59.095 trillion, a slight dip from N59.121 trillion.  

Despite this, the market atmosphere remained upbeat, with PRESTIGE and MAYBAKER leading 23 gainers by each surging 10% in share price. In contrast, UACN’s shares declined by 9.82%, marking it as one of the most notable losers among 17 stocks.  

GTCO stood out for the monetary value of its traded shares and volume of trade, highlighting the market’s vibrancy with an increase in transactions to 12,925, up from 10,257 in the prior session. 

In the most recent trading session, there was a noticeable decrease in market activity, with the volume of shares traded falling by 77.58 million shares. This 12.45% reduction led to a total trading volume of 545.49 million units, marking a decline from the previous session’s 623.08 million shares. 

GTCO led the pack in trading volume with a significant 84.65 million units, followed closely by ACCESSCORP at 68.89 million units. Other notable stocks were UBA, ZENITHBANK, and TRANSCORP, trading 65.49 million, 62.59 million, and 27.43 million units, respectively. 

In terms of market value, there was a marked 13.81% decrease, translating to a N2.34 billion drop, closing the session at N14.61 billion compared to N16.95 billion in the prior session. GTCO was the largest contributor to this figure, with shares totalling N4.48 billion, followed by ZENITHBANK at N2.77 billion, UBA at N1.83 billion, ACCESSCORP at N1.73 billion, and FBNH at N622.77 million. 

In the SWOOT sector, performance was varied, with GTCO and Zenith Bank experiencing a rise in stock values by 1.05% and 0.11%, respectively. On the other hand, FBN Holdings faced a 1.97% decline in market value. 

The majority of the SWOOT group, which includes companies like AIRTELAFRI, BUA Cement, BUAFOODS, DANGCEM, GEREGU, MTNN, SEPLAT, TRANSCOHOT, and TRANSPOWER, demonstrated stability by maintaining their share prices amidst market fluctuations. 

A review of the day’s trading for the leading banks showed divergent outcomes. Access Holdings, GTCO, and Zenith Bank enjoyed increases in their share prices of 2.04%, 1.05%, and 0.11%, respectively. In contrast, FBN Holdings and UBA saw their stock values decrease by 1.97% and 0.71%, respectively.