CAPITAL MARKET: Insurance takes lead as oil, banking sectors decline

Investors, Tuesday, shunned stocks of oil, banks and consumer goods while concentrating on the insurance sector at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

At the end of trading on Tuesday, the insurance index emerged the only gainer, appreciating by 1.17 per cent, while all other indices depreciated, pegging the market breadth at 0.6x.

The All Share Index lost 1.14 per cent closing at 31,173.71 basis points, while the market capitalisation shed N132bn, dropping from N11.512tn recorded on Monday to N11.380tn on Tuesday.

However, the volume and value of stocks traded improved, advancing by 73.7 per cent and 41.9 per cent to 182.228 million units and N2.754bn, respectively, while the year-to-date loss settled at -18.5 per cent.

The insurance index recorded gains due to a price appreciation in Continental Reinsurance Plc.

On the other side, the oil & gas index declined the most, losing 5.68 per cent.

According to analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited, the decline in the oil & gas index was because investors took arbitrage opportunities following a price discrepancy between listed prices on the NSE and the London Stock Exchange.

The banking index followed, losing 1.65 per cent following sell-offs in Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc, while the consumer and industrial goods indices shed 0.09 per cent and 0.93 per cent, respectively, on the back of losses in P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc, Flour Mills Nigeria Plc, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc and Lafarge Africa Plc.

At the end of Tuesday trading on the floor of the Exchange, 14 gainers emerged against 23 decliners.

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The top traded stocks by volume were Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (37.9 million units), Access Bank Plc (29.3 million units) and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (22.4 million units), while the top traded stocks by value were Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (N682.9m), Nestlé Nigeria Plc (N551.4m) and Nigerian Breweries Plc (N297.7m).

The top five losers were A.G. Leventis Nigeria Plc, Forte Oil Plc, P Z Cussons, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and Prestige Assurance Plc.

A.G. Leventis saw its share price drop by 10 per cent to close at 27 kobo as its year-to-date return settled at -61.43 per cent.

Forte Oil’s share price declined by 9.90 per cent to close at N17.30, while its year-to-date return settled at -60.21 per cent.

P Z Cussons, whose year-to-date return settled at -48.79 per cent, saw its share price decline by 9.83 per cent to close at N10.55.

A 9.61 per cent decline was recorded in the share price of Seplat Petroleum as it closed at N590 per share, while its year-to-date return settled at -5.78 per cent.

Prestige Assurance’s share price, recording a 9.41 per cent decline, dropped to 77 kobo per share as its year-to-date return settled at +54 per cent.

The top five gainers were Beta Glass Plc, Continental Reinsurance, Cap Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc and Wema Bank Plc.

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