The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) stock market opened the week on a negative note, recording 0.02 per cent decline on the performance indices.

Losses in stocks such as PZ Cussons Nigeria, Transnational Corporation, International Breweries, Unilever, Wema Bank, and FBN Holdings contributed to the market’s downturn.

Investors witnessed a total loss of N9 billion, representing 0.02 per cent of market capitalisation, which opened at N56.581 trillion and closed at N56.572 trillion.

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The All-Share Index also experienced a marginal decline of 0.02 per cent, shedding 15.24 points to settle at 100,006.79, down from Friday’s close of 100,022.03.

Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) decrease stood at 32.75 per cent.

Market breadth ended negative with 24 losers against 22 gainers on the floor of the Exchange.

Leading the losers’ table was PZ, which declined by N2.20 to close at N19.80, followed by Computer Warehouse Group with a 75k drop to N6.90 per share.

Chams lost 23k to close at N2.15, while International Energy Insurance (IEI) and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings shed 15k and 14k respectively, closing at N1.42 and N1.37 per share.

In contrast, Veritas Kapital led the gainers’ chart with an increase of 11k to close at N1.26.

Daar Communications followed with a 4k gain, closing at 52k per share.

Notable gainers also included Conoil, rising by N10.45 to close at N136.96; Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals, advancing by 12k to N1.73; and Ikeja Hotel, gaining 50k to close at N7.40 per share.

Market activity analysis showed an increase in trade turnover compared to the previous session, with transactions valued at N7.17 billion for 689.89 million shares traded in 9,635 deals.

This contrasts with the previous session’s 412.66 million shares valued at N6.02 billion exchanged in 8,551 deals.

Leading the volume chart was Ellahlakes with 271.49 million shares worth N814.39 million, followed by Universal Insurance with 42.05 million shares valued at N14.89 million.

GTCO topped the value chart with 40.84 million shares worth N1.94 billion, while United Bank For Africa (UBA) transacted 35.98 million shares valued at N846.92 million and AIICO traded 28.83 million shares worth N32.52 million.

Looking ahead for the week, analysts at Cowry Asset Management Ltd. predicted bullish sentiment driven by the upcoming half-year earnings reporting season.

They expect continued position-taking and sector rotation, influencing liquidity, momentum, volume, and market reactions to earnings reports.

“As market fundamentals evolve, investors are advised to focus on stocks with strong fundamentals,” the analysts recommended.