Dangote Cement Plc, Consolidated Hallmark Plc, MRS Plc, Eunisell Plc, and Sunu Assurance Plc are the top losers on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited due to sell-off.
Investors do not have confidence in these firms as analysts expect a generally bullish outlook for the Nigerian equity markets.
Dangote Cement was down, -19.59 percent; Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, -21.74 percent; MRS Plc,-25.21 percent; Eunisell, -35.13 percent, and Sunu Assurance, -46.05 percent.
In January, investors gained as the NGX-ASI recorded a positive return of 1.53 percent month on month (MoM) to close at 104,496.12pts, according to data gathered by Meristem Securities Limited.
“As we anticipated, investors exhibited cautious trading, cherry-picking amongst stocks to kick start a new trading year and rebalancing existing portfolios,” said analysts at Meristem Securities.
“As a result, the positive momentum was largely subdued, compared to the 5.56 percent MoM recorded in the previous month,” said analysts at Meristem Securities.
Month on Month sectoral returns for January shows the NGX Banking index gained 9.79 percent on the back of gains from Wema Bank, FCMB, Fidelity Bank, and Stanbic IBTC Holdings.
Investors are sanguine that the big lenders are going to meet the recapitalisation requirement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as there has been a slew of capital raising.
The Industrial Goods index dipped 8.51 percent due to sell bias on Dangote Cement. The NGXOil and gas index shed -1.58 percent due to sell bias on MRS, Total, and ARADEL.
The NGX Consumer goods index gained 4.47 percent, thanks to appreciation in the shares of Vitafoam and Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) Plc.
The NGX Insurance index dipped 9.91 percent as the selloffs in the shares of Sunu Assurance, Cornerstone Insurance, Guinea and Consolidated Hallmark Insurance.
Meri Telco and Meri Agric were up 3.06 percent and 4.60 percent on the back of gains from MTN Nigeria, Okomu Oil and Presco Oil.
There are indications stocks of bellwether firms will appreciate on the declaration of dividend that will be predicated on impressive full-year results.
The NGXASI has a year to date (ytd) return of 3.54 percent with a couple of firms outperforming it.
Follow the MoneyCentral Nigeria channel on WhatsApp: Click here!
