SAT, MAR 02 2024-theGBJournal| Bearish sentiments dominated the market in the last trading session as the All-Share Index lost 1.23% to close at 98,751.98 points.
Selloffs in BUACEMENT (-10.00%), MTNN (-9.96%) and FIDELITYBK (-3.85%) outweighed gains in GTCO (+5.30%), ZENITHBANK (+1.43%), and FBNH (+0.72%) keeping the market in the negative terrain.
Accordingly, having lost in four (4) of five (5) trading sessions this week, the ASI closed 3.27% lower w/w, offsetting most of the gains of the prior week.
Over the course of the week, losses in BUACEMENT (-10.00% w/w) and MTNN (-18.91% w/w), NESTLE (-18.18% w/w), and outweighed buy interests in GTCO (+6.79% w/w), ZENITHBANK (+0.57% w/w) , and TRANSCORP (+10.10% w/w) driving the market’s negative performance.
Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return on the index declined to 32.07%, while the market capitalization lost N1.83 trillion w/w to close at N54.04 trillion.
Analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 22.01%. A total of 367.62m shares valued at N6.78 billion were exchanged in 9,168 deals.
TRANSCORP (+9.93%) led the volume chart with 57.00 million units traded while ZENITHBANK (+1.43%) led the value chart in deals worth N913.43 million.
Market breadth closed positive at a 5.50-to-1 ratio with advancing issues outnumbering the declining ones. FTNCOCOA (+10.00%) topped forty-threeothers on the leader’s table while BUACEMENT (-10.00%) led seven others on the laggard’s log.
Sentiments in the global equities market were mixed as investors assessed the outlook for the Federal Reserve interest rates following the release of the US personal consumption expenditures index (PCE) report.
Meanwhile, optimism over artificial Intelligence (AI) and anticipated stimulus measures lifted sentiments in Asia. As of the time of writing, US equities (DJIA: -0.3%; S&P 500: +0.1%) reversed last week’s gains as investors parsed easing price pressures from the PCE report and jobless claims data for further clues on the strength of the economy and the outlook for interest rates.
Elsewhere, European equities (STOXX Europe: -0.2%; FTSE 100: -0.5%) were on course for a weekly loss as investors digested a batch of economic data including the US PCE report, inflation reports from Germany, France and Spain, amidst Eurozone inflation concerns.
Meanwhile, Asian markets (Nikkei 225: +2.1%; SSE: +0.7%) remained positive, with the Japanese market driven by tech stock rallies following persistent optimism over AI. Similarly, the Chinese market rose as the weak manufacturing report heightened bets on more robust economic stimulus measures from Beijing next week, supplementing its recent market intervention.
The Emerging market (MSCI EM: -0.7%) index declined, led by bearish sentiments in South Korea (-1.0%), while Frontier markets (MSCI FM: -1.3%) followed suit with losses in Romania (-0.2%) and Morocco (-0.4%).
X-@theGBJournal|Facebook-the Government and Business Journal|email:gbj@govbusinessjournal.com|govandbusinessj@gmail.com
