Market News

By Jide Ajia

Equities trading on the Nigerian Exchange Limited closed on a lower note on Monday, as the benchmark Monetary Policy Rate remained fixed at 23.00 per cent by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Market data from the trading session showed that total market capitalisation settled at 160,852,829,571,649.00 Naira, while the benchmark All Shares Index retreated to close at 247,736.24 points.

Throughout the preceding weekly trading period, market indicators fluctuated between a peak index point of 250,273.50 and a low of 247,736.24, bringing the period’s average index point to 248,902.51. Market-wide activity counters recorded a total of 52,891 deals, with investors exchanging a cumulative volume of 405,359,288 securities across all active boards.

Sector performance metrics mirrored the broader market downturn. The NGX Main-Board Index slipped to 10,751.25, the NGX 30 Index contracted to 9,114.65, and the NGX Banking Index dipped to 2,567.52.

Additional performance data indicated that the NGX Pension Index closed lower at 12,892.22, the NGX Insurance Index adjusted to 1,082.56, and the NGX Consumer Goods Index managed a marginal close at 4,035.46 points.

Meanwhile, industrial goods maintained relative resilience as the NGX Industrial Index closed at 10,442.78, while the NGX Oil and Gas Index closed the session at 5,993.51.

Individual equities recorded diverse transactional volumes and price movements across various high-cap segments. Premium board heavyweights saw MTN Nigeria Communications Plc trade at 844.00 Naira with a total volume of 1,769,623 shares, while Dangote Cement Plc exchanged hands at a price of 1,066.70 Naira.

Seplat Energy Plc maintained active trading at N16,000.10 with 52,474 shares traded. Financial services counters continued to attract high market liquidity, highlighted by Zenith Bank Plc trading at N129.00 with a heavy volume of 27,980,069 shares, and Access Holdings Plc recording a share price of N28.25 alongside 33,283,797 units changing hands.

Broader asset categories, encompassing fixed-income debt securities, exchange-traded products, and collective investment mutual funds, sustained their regular scheduled listings and pricing evaluations in line with official market summaries.