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NSE! Equities relapse amidst tight trades

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The topsy-turvy market situation at the Nigerian stock market continued on Wednesday as selloffs among large-cap stocks reversed the overall market position to the negative with a net capital depreciation of N17 billion.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks share prices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) declined by 0.11 per cent to close at 40,755.73 points as against its opening index of 40,801.04 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also dropped by N17 billion from its opening value of N14.738 trillion to close at N14.721 trillion.

The decline on Wednesday override the modest gain of N14 billion recorded on Tuesday to push the average year-to-date return for Nigerian equities down to 6.57 per cent at the close of the market on Wednesday.

With 24 advancers to 23 decliners, the market traded on a tight balance of bargain-hunting and profit-taking as first quarter 2018 earnings appeared to have little rallying effect on the market. The negative overall market position was particularly driven by losses recorded by Dangote Cement Plc, which controls more than two-quarters of total equities capitalisation.

The NSE Industrial Goods Index-where Dangote Cement is listed, declined by 1.4 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index dropped by 0.8 per cent. Meanwhile, most sectoral indices closed on the upside. The NSE Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 2.3 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index rose by 1.7 per cent while the NSE Banking Index inched up by 0.2 per cent.

“Despite the negative market performance, investor sentiment slightly increased. Hence, in the near term, we expect bargain hunting as well as investors’ reaction to the first quarter 2018 results to buoy performance,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Read also: NSE! Equities rebound with N14bn gain

Total Nigeria led the decliners with a drop of N11.20 to close at N222.60. Dangote Cement followed with a loss of N3 to close at N245. FBN Holdings lost N1.20 to close at N12.20. Lafarge Africa declined by 85 kobo to close at N42.4 while Oando dropped by 45 kobo to close at N8.70 per share.

On the positive side, Nestle Nigeria continued its rally with a gain of N74.60 to close at N1,568.20. Seplat Petroleum Development Company followed with a gain of N27.90 to close at N765. Forte Oil rose by N4.40 to close at N47.70. Presco chalked up N3.30 to close at N69.30 while GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria added 70 kobo to close at N24 per share.

The momentum of activities however improved with 42.1 per cent increase in volume of activities and 43 per cent growth in value of activities. Total turnover stood at 350.98 million shares valued at N4.60 billion in 5,020 deals. FBN Holdings was the most active stock with a turnover of 80.09 million shares worth N1.01 billion. United Bank for Africa followed with a turnover of 60 million shares worth N684.5 million while Fidelity Bank recorded a turnover of 40.55 million shares worth N101.94 million.

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