Connect with us

Business

Equities open with N57b loss

Published

on

Equities break downtrend with N12bn gain

Nigerian equities continued on the downtrend on Monday as the stock market reopened to mixed-feeling on corporate performance in the first half and the outlook for earnings and returns in the second half.

With more than 60 per cent of quoted companies already submitted their first half results, investors remained laid-back and cautious about prospects of several stocks.

With nearly two losers to every gainer, aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped by N57 billion from N9.620 trillion to close at N9.563 trillion. The benchmark index for the stock market, the All Share Index (ASI), indicated average decline of 0.6 per cent, dropping from 28,009.93 points to close at 27,843.00 points.

The losses further depressed the average year-to-the return at the stock market to -2.8 per cent.

Read also:  NSE LIVE! Equities lose N54b as sell-off resumes

The sell-offs spread across the sectors of the stock market as all group and sectoral indices closed in the red. The NSE Consumer Goods Index led the losses with a decline of 1.9 per cent. The Industrial Goods Index dropped by 0.2 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index and the NSE Banking Index and the NSE Insurance Index dropped by 0.1 per cent each.

“As investor sentiment remains weak, we perceive that first half 2016 corporate earnings scorecards will continue to shape market direction in the coming days,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Nestle Nigeria led the 28-stock losers’ list with a loss of N12.50 to close at N837.50. Nigerian Breweries dropped by N3.99 to close at N134. Guinness Nigeria lost N1.50 to close at N93. PZ Cussons Nigeria declined by N1 to close at N17.60 while Cadbury Nigeria dropped by 71 kobo to close at N13.56 per share.

Total turnover stood at 331.69 million shares valued at N4.75 billion in 4,114 deals. The three most active stocks were United Bank for Africa (UBA), with 101.36 million shares; FCMB Group, 56.75 million shares and Guaranty Trust Bank, which recorded 52.26 million shares.

On the positive side, Total Nigeria led the 15-stock gainers’ list with a gain of N18.59 to close at N200.09. Okomu Oil Palm followed with a gain of N1.34 to close at N35. Flour Mills of Nigeria added N1.30 to close at N21.50. Unilever Nigeria rose by 35 kobo to close at N35 while Dangote Flour Mills chalked up 25 kobo to close at N4.90 per share.

 

 

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now