- Equity bourse opens negative on Monday, sheds N50.6bn
Leading Cement manufacturer, Dangote Cement Plc, has informed the Nigerian Exchange Limited and all its stakeholders that the meeting of the Board of Directors has been rescheduled for February 29, 2024.
The meeting was initially slated for February 23, 2024.
The purpose of the meeting, according to a notice given to the NGX, is to discuss various matters, including the Audited Financial Statements for the Year ended December 31, 2023.
Meanwhile, restrictions placed on insider’s trading on the shares of the company since April last year will continue.
“Given the shift in the date of the meeting, the closed period has been ongoing since April 1, 2023 shall continue its closed period even after the publication of the Financial Statements until the price-sensitive information on an ongoing project is published on the Nigerian Exchange Limited via the Issuers’ Portal. Thereafter, the trading window shall be opened,’’ the company revealed in a statement.
The Closed Trading Period applies to all parties that may at any time possess sensitive information that may materially affect the price of the securities of the Company.
Accordingly, no Insider may deal in the Company’s securities during the Closed Trading Period.
Equity bourse opens negative on Monday, sheds N50.6bn
Meanwhile, the trading week began with a negative tone as the local bourse All-Share Index retraced its steps, declining by 0.09 percent to close at 101,995.53 points, attributed to weakening market sentiment.
This resulted in a corresponding decrease in the market capitalization of listed equities by 0.09 percent to N55.81 trillion, reflecting losses of N50.64 billion.
Significant declines were observed in stocks like NESTLE, ETERNA, FIDSON, CWG and SUNUASSUR, experiencing losses of -10.00 percent, -9.97 percent, -9.82 percent, -9.56 percent, and -9.09 percent, respectively. However, buying momentum was evident in NASCON, JULI, FBNH, WAPIC, and DAARCOMM, as their share prices surged by +10.00 percent, +9.83 percent, +9.68 percent, +8.96 percent, and +8.86 percent, respectively.
Despite the decline in the benchmark index, trading activity on the NGX saw an uptick, as total deals, volume, and traded value increased by 29.14 percent, 1.14 percent, and 11.69 percent respectively, totaling 9,957 trades, 294.32 million units, and N6.72 billion.
Moving forward, sectoral performance showed varied trends; NGX Banking led the gainers’ list with a 1.35 percent increase, fueled by buying interest in FBNH, JAIZBANK and STERLINGNG, followed by the Insurance Sector, which gained 0.18 percent.
On the other hand, NGX Consumer Goods and NGX Oil/Gas indexes experienced declines of 1.46 percent and 0.37 percent, respectively, due to selling pressure observed in NESTLE, DANGSUGAR, and ETERNA.
The Industrial Goods sector remained unchanged. The exchange saw more declining stocks than advancing ones, with 28 stocks gaining ground and 25 stocks experiencing declines.
At the close of the session, FBNH emerged as the most traded security in terms of both volume and value, with 73.84 million units worth N2.42 billion changing hands in 790 deals.
At the money market, NIBOR rates climbed across maturities, reflecting a liquidity crunch in the system.
The Overnight, 1-month, 3-month and 6-month NIBOR advanced by 44bps, 127bps, 123bps, and 123bps, respectively.
However, key money market rates, such as the open repo rate (OPR) and overnight lending rate (OVN) declined by 1.36 percent and 1.50 percent, to 23.55 percent and 24.25 percent, respectively.
In the Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills market, the Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills True Yield (NITTY) displayed upward movement across tenor buckets. However, the average secondary market yield on T-bills slightly declined by a base point, to close at 16.06 percent.
In the secondary market for FGN Bonds, trading activity was mildly bearish as the average yield advanced by 0.02 percent to close at 16.82 percent.
In Nigeria’s sovereign Eurobonds market, positive sentiment prevailed across all segments of the yield curve, causing a 16bps decline in the average yield to 9.71 percent.
Turning to the foreign exchange market, the Naira strengthened against the dollar by 4.96 percent to close at N1, 582.94 per dollar. Similarly, in the parallel market, the Naira gained against the US dollar to close at N1, 628 per dollar.
