Equities lose N351b as profit-taking continues

Nigerian equities reopened on Monday to a strong profit-taking trend as investors turned to take profits on most equities that had seen significant appreciation in the past 17 trading sessions. All major indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed in the red as shares supply outstripped demand.

Benchmark indices showed that the market suffered a depreciation of N351 billion within the five-hour trading in the rush-for-sale that saw investors dropping prices to attract buyers.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based index that tracks share prices at the NSE, indicated a day-on-day average decline of 2.77 per cent, dropping from opening index of 36,864.71 points to close at 35,844.00 points.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Exchange also depreciated from the opening value of N12.705 trillion to close at N12.354 trillion, underlining the fact that the losses were due to price depreciation rather than other adjustments such as delisting and share reconstruction.

Most sectoral indices closed in the red, indicating the widespread selling sentiment that dictated the pricing trend on Monday. The NSE Industrial Goods Index dropped by 4.7 per cent. The NSE Banking Index declined by 3.8 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index slipped by 0.4 per cent. On the upside, the NSE Insurance Index rallied 1.2 per cent gain while the NSE Oil & Gas Index inched up by 0.3 per cent.

The decline shaved the overall average year-to-date return for the Nigerian equities to 33.37 per cent.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities rally N175b gain as index hits 37,000 points

There were 27 losers against 23 gainers. Dangote Cement led the losers with a drop of N11.76 to close at N223.75. Nigerian Breweries followed with a loss of N4.62 to close at N167. Lafarge Africa depreciated by N3.03 to close at N57.72. Guaranty Trust Bank dropped by N2.05 to close at N39.05 per share. Stanbic IBTC Holdings lost N1.63 to close at N35.90. Zenith Bank declined by N1.29 to close at N24.61.Cement Company of Northern Nigeria lost 89 kobo to close at N8.33 while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated declined by 50 kobo to close at N16.50 per share.

On the other hand, Okomu Oil Palm led the gainers with a gain of N5.62 to close at N80.03. Presco followed with a gain of N3.66 to close at N76.86. Seven-Up Bottling Company appreciated by N1.39 to close at N91.89. International Breweries rose by N1.13 to close at N33.13. Dangote Sugar Refinery added N1.11 to close at N11.97. Unilever Nigeria rose by 98 kobo to close at N39.66 per share. Nascon Allied Industries appreciated by 96 kobo to close at N10.42. Cadbury Nigeria gathered 52 kobo to close at N10.97 while Nestle Nigeria rose by 43 kobo to close at N1,003.70 per share.

Investors traded a total of 490.16 million shares valued at N5.27 billion in 5,558 deals. FCMB Group was the most active stock with a turnover of 127.61 million shares worth N154.21 million.

 

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