Banking stocks drive intraday loss on Nigerian Exchange

Spurred by weak investors’ sentiment, negative price movements in banking stocks like Access Holdings, First Holdco, GTCO, and Fidelity Bank are dragging the equities market capitalisation lower. Trading activities opened negative on Friday as investors continue to take profit. Banking stocks become profit-taking targets after a strong rally posted this week. With the change in buying appetite, both tier-1 banks and small lender stocks were not spared in the selloffs. Wema Bank Plc’s market value is in decline, while investors are also exiting positions in Sterling and Jaiz Bank Plc. International Breweries has seen negative price movement, while United Capital plc is also tracking lower.
The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index tracks lower during the intraday trading session as investors continue to take profits. The local bourse is retreating as investors begin to rebalance portfolios amidst expectations that there will be strong market corrections in the short term. Reflecting the mood on the banking index, top names like GTCO, Access Holdings, and First Holdco are tracking lower during the intraday trading session. Nigerian small lenders are also seeing some rapid sell-offs that have reduced their individual market value. At midday, the NGX All Share Index witnessed a bearish trend, Alpha Morgan Capital Limited said in an emailed note, reflecting a loss of -0.08%. Stockbrokers said the decline was largely driven by sell-offs in some mid- to high-capitalized stocks.
Early decliners include WEMABANK (-1.88%), STERLINGNG (-1.74%), GTCO (-1.52%), JAIZBANK (-1.23%), UCAP (-1.04%), INTBREW (-1.02%), FIRSTHOLDCO (-0.98%), ACCESSCORP (-0.91%), OANDO (-0.83%), and FIDELITYBK (-0.26%), among others.