By 
After the Christmas holiday, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) witnessed a decline of N139 billion in its market capitalization on the first trading day; however, banking stocks continued their positive trend.
The All-Share Index and market capitalization experienced a 0.34% dip, reaching 73,768.64 and N40.367 trillion, respectively. This resulted in a year-to-date gain of 43.94% for the All-Share Index.
Despite the overall market decline, the banking index on the NGX showed a marginal increase, rising from 887.60 on Friday to 889.15 on Wednesday.
Examining the performance of individual banking stocks, FCMB Group saw a rise of 4.79%, Fidelity Bank increased by 0.95%, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc by 0.50%, Jaiz Bank Plc by 8.75%, Unity Bank Plc by 2.50%, Zenith Bank by 0.26%, and Access Holdings Plc by 0.22%.
Conversely, Stanbic IBTC Holdings witnessed a share value decline of 6.01%, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc lost 1.11%, FBN Holdings Plc shed 1.04%, and United Bank for Africa also dipped by 0.39%. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Wema Bank closed flat.
Market breadth, indicating investor sentiment, remained positive with 40 gainers and 21 losers.
Notable sell-offs were observed in UAC Nigeria, DEAPCap, Caverton, Royal Exchange, and Tantalizer, resulting in share price drops of 10%, 7.25%, 6.59%, 6.25%, and 6.12%, respectively.
During the trading session, there was an improvement in trading activity, with total deals and traded volume increasing by 40.55% and 2.27%, reaching 8,901 trades and 432.91 million units. However, the traded value declined by 21.99% to N12.94 billion.
Sector-wise, positive investor sentiment was evident in the Insurance index with a 3.06% increase, followed by the Oil/Gas and Banking indexes, gaining 0.24% and 0.17%, respectively. On the other hand, the Consumer and Industrial Goods sectors experienced declines of 0.15% and 1.10% due to sell-offs.
Jaiz Bank emerged as the most traded security by volume, with 35.38 million units worth N58.74 million. Geregu led in traded value at N6.06 billion.
Gainers included Eterna, Axa Mansard, and Multiverse TERNA, with gains of 10%, 9.96%, and 9.95%, respectively.
Despite concerns about potential bank runs following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s special investigator report, which alleged improprieties by former CBN governor Godwin Emefiele, visits to several bank branches revealed normal operations. The CBN also issued a statement reassuring the public about the safety of Nigerian banks and encouraging regular banking activities.
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