Supreme Court Ruling Triggers N67 Billion Market Cap Loss on Nigerian Exchange

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) witnessed a second consecutive day of bearish sentiments, with market capitalization dipping by N67 billion as investors reacted to the recent Supreme Court judgment on the 2023 general elections.

The negative response was driven by the apex court’s affirmation of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal’s decision, upholding the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 2023 election.

Dragging down the market capitalization was depreciation in the share values of key players, including MTN Nigeria (-0.40%), Flour Mills (-3.23%), Stanbic IBTC (-3.21%), Computer Warehouse Group (-9.94%), Fidelity Bank (-1.82%), and several others.

The All-Share index experienced a -0.18% decline to at 67,084.95 points while the market cap settled at N36.856 trillion.

Market breadth, reflecting investor sentiment, was negative at 0.41x, with 29 stocks depreciating against 12 gainers. Transaction volume decreased from 329.66 million to 267.65 million units of shares valued at N5.1 billion, traded in 5,205 deals. A total of 117 stocks were traded during the day’s session.

In sectoral performance, two out of five sectors closed in the red, with the Banking and Insurance indexes suffering setbacks of 0.33% and 1.82%, respectively.

This decline was attributed to sell-offs in companies like Stanbic, Prestige, Cornerstone Insurance, GTCO, and Zenith Bank. On the positive side, the Consumer Goods sector grew by 0.12%, led by Nestle and Transcorp, while the Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indexes displayed muted performances.

Some notable gainers in Thursday’s trading included McNichols, Oando, UAC Nigeria, Chams, Nestle, and Transcorp. The volume and value drivers of the day were mainly stocks of Fidelity, Chams, Nestle, AccessCorp, UBA, and Stanbic.

The market’s response to the Supreme Court’s judgment underlines the sensitivity of financial markets to political developments and their potential to impact investor sentiment.

Market participants will be closely watching for further developments and potential market reactions in the coming sessions.