Admin 
The Nigerian stock market experienced a mixed performance on Monday, with the All-Share Index closing lower in spite of a significant boost to market capitalisation.
The listing of 2.42 billion shares in a private placement by Notore Plc added N111 billion to the market’s value.
However, the broader market trend was bearish, as the All-Share Index extended its losing streak to five consecutive trading days.
Declines in Tier-one banking stocks such as Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, and Fidelity Bank, coupled with losses in other key stocks like Caverton and Transnational Corporation, contributed to the index’s downturn.
In spite the negative market sentiment, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return remained positive at 31.24 per cent.
Market breadth closed marginally positive, with 22 gainers outperforming 21 losers.
On the gainers’ table, Africa Prudential led by 10 per cent to close at N10.45, Cutix Plc followed closely by 9.90 per cent to close at N5.66 per share.
Eterna gained 9.88 per cent to close at N17.80, Oando Plc rose by 9.83 per cent to close at N22.35 and Custodian went up by 9.80 per cent to close at N11.20 per share.
Conversely, Caverton led the losers’ table by 10 per cent to close at N1.35, WAPIC trailed by 9.30 per cent to close at 78k per share.
ABC Transport lost 9.09 per cent to close at 70k, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals shed 7.65 per cent to close at N1.81, while National Salt Company of Nigeria dropped 4.85 per cent to close at N32.35 per share.
Meanwhile, trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 59.69 per cent.
A total of 379.13 million shares valued at N8.71billion were exchanged in 10.096 deals, against 1.10 billion shares valued at N21.60 billion exchanged in 9.098 deals recorded in the previous session.
UBA led the activity table in volume and value with 69.06 million shares worth N1.46 billion, FBN Holdings sold 24.94 million shares valued at N512.41 million,while Access Corporation traded 23.89 million shares worth N441.43 million.
In a market prediction for the week, Analysts at Cowry Asset Management Ltd., said that bearish trend was expected to persist.
The analysts said this was because market players would continue to digest the outcome of the recently published economic data and the interest rate hike by the apex bank.
They noted that the continued rise in yield levels within the fixed income and money market spaces was likely to maintain the unattractiveness of equities, as investors opt for the appealing yields.
“Nonetheless, a mildly positive performance is anticipated on the back of continued earnings releases and attractive dividend declarations by corporations in the coming week.
“As the market structure and fundamentals evolve, investors are advised to position themselves in stocks with sound fundamentals to navigate the prevailing conditions effectively,” the analysts stated. (NAN)
