NGX suspends trading in Access Bank shares as Profit-taking ushers in the Bears

The Exchange NGX, has suspended trading in the shares of Access Bank Plc (“Access” or “the bank”) today. The suspension was necessary to prevent trading in the bank’s shares in preparation for the delisting of Access from NGX’s Daily Official List and subsequent listing of the Holding Company, Access Holdings Plc on the Exchange. Despite the marginal improvement in investor sentiment, the local bourse closed in the red due to profit- taking in GTCO (-1.3%), MTNN (-0.7%), and ZENITH (-1.1%) as the NGX-ASI shed 0.4% to close at 46,960.29 points. Consequently, market capitalisation declined ₦109.8bn to ₦25.3tn while YTD return reduced to 9.9% (previously 10.4%). Meanwhile, volume and value traded decreased by 19.7% and 18.4% respectively to 214.7m units and ₦2.6bn.

Across our coverage sectors, performance was mixed as 2 indices gained, 3 lost, while the Industrial Goods index closed flat . The Oil & Gas and Insurance indices gained 0.9% and 0.7% respectively on account of buying interest in OANDO (+6.4%), AIICO (+6.1%), and VERITASKAP (+9.5%). On the flip side, the AFR-ICT index led the losers’ chart, down 0.3% due to profit-taking in MTNN (-0.7%). Trailing, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices fell 0.1% apiece driven by selloffs in ZENITH (-1.1%), STERLNBANK (-3.8%), and FLOURMILL (-3.1%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, improved to 0.03x from 0.00x recorded previously as 16 stocks gained, 14 lost and 75 were unchanged. In the final trading session for the week, it is  anticipated that a rebound in market performance as opportunity for bargain hunting persists.

 Trade Summary

Market Cap (₦’bn)                                       25,309.04

Market Cap ($’bn)                                        60.9

NGX All-Share Index                                  46,960.29

Daily Performance %                                   -0.4%

WTD Performance %                                   -0.7%                                 

MTD Performance %                                   -0.9%

QTD Performance %                                    9.9%

YTD Performance %                                   9.9%

Daily Volume                                              214.7

Daily Value (₦’bn)                                      2.6

Daily Value ($’m)                                       6.3

Sectorial Indices Performance

NGX 30                                                     -0.6%

NGX BANKING INDEX                         -0.1%                        

NGX INSURANCE INDEX                      0.7%                  

NGX CONSUMER GOODS INDEX       -0.1%     

NGX OIL/GAS                                           0.9%                              

NGX LII                                                     -0.2%

NGX INDUSTRIAL GOODS INDEX       0.0%

NGX-AseM                                                 0.0%