Toba Owojaiye reporting
Abuja, Nigeria
In March 2024, Nigeria experienced a surge in inflation, with the rate climbing to 33.2%, as revealed by data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This marks a notable increase of 1.5 percentage points from February 2024, when the inflation rate stood at 32.7%.
In the same vein, Nigeria Stock Market also tumbled as banks incurred losses in the recent recapitalization drive.
Truth Live News gathered that the Nigerian stock market faced significant turbulence, particularly in the banking sector, following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s announcement of proposed recapitalization measures. Investors bore the brunt of this cautious sentiment, suffering a staggering loss of N633 billion as they offloaded shares in the banking sector.
Consequently, the total market capitalization of listed equities plummeted to N57.87 trillion by the end of the holiday-shortened week, down from N58.498 trillion the previous week, reflecting a 1.1% decline. The benchmark All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) also fell by 1.1% to 102,314.56 basis points from 103,437.67 basis points, driven by significant losses in shares of Guaranty Trust Company (GTCo) Plc (-13.75%), FBN Holdings Plc (-11.15%), and Zenith Bank Plc (-5.88%).
Month-to-Date (MtD) and Year-to-Date (YtD) returns saw declines to -2.1% and +36.8%, respectively. Trading activity was subdued due to the shortened trading week, with total trading volume and value declining by 69.2% Week-on-Week (w/w) and 50.5% w/w, to 734.04 million units and N31.58 billion, respectively. Sectoral performance mirrored the market’s gloomy sentiment, with all major sectoral indices recording declines.
The banking sector led with a 7.2% depreciation, followed by the insurance sector (-2.4%), consumer goods sector (-1.3%), oil and gas sector (-0.3%), and industrial goods sector (-0.2%). Analysts at Cordros Capital anticipate continued negative market sentiment, attributing it to investor concerns over potential dilution from the CBN’s recapitalization plan. Meanwhile, analysts at Parthian Securities foresee a mixed market performance in the upcoming trading sessions, suggesting that investor sentiment will likely vary.