The Nigerian Equity Market started the week on a negative note, with investors expressing bearish sentiment towards equities. Consequently, the benchmark NGX All-Share Index (NGXASI) experienced a further decline of 1.10%, reaching 64,337.52 points, compared to its previous session at 65,056.39 points.

The market’s downward performance was mainly driven by profit-taking activities observed in major stocks, after a downward half year performance affected by the unification of the exchange rate. Some prominent stocks, such as DANGSUGAR (-10%), ETI (-10%), GUINNESS (-9.98%), PZ (-9.92%), FBNH (-2.96%), MTN (-3.68%), ACCESSCORP (-2.86%), and others, faced significant declines.

As a result of this bearish trend, the Year to Date (YTD) return declined to 25.53%. Additionally, the overall market capitalization dropped by 110 basis points, closing at N35.01 trillion. This led to a substantial decrease in investors’ wealth by N391.20 billion.

We anticipate bears to dominate the week, as we see investors pulling out from some stocks with poor half year performance.