Connect with us

Business

NSE LIVE! Equities’ decline worsens with N77bn loss

Published

on

The downtrend at the Nigerian equities market continued on Tuesday with more investors opting to trade their shares at lower prices. Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated average day-on-day decline of 0.51 per cent, representing net capital loss of N77 billion. The decline depressed the average year-to-date return for Nigerian equities to 7.8 per cent.

With 31 decliners against 21 advancers, the overall market situation showed widespread selloff across the sectors and stocks’ groups as investors appeared to favour profit-taking than waiting for dividend payouts.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the NSE dropped from its opening value of N14.976 trillion to close at N14.899 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks share prices at the Exchange, also declined from its opening index of 41,454.30 points to close at 41,243.24 points.

All sectoral indices closed negative with the exception of the NSE Industrial Goods Index, which inched up by 0.9 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index declined by 2.7 per cent. The NSE Banking Index dropped by 1.0 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index dipped by 0.6 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index slipped by 0.4 per cent.

Oil and gas stocks dominated the top decliners’ list. Seplat Petroleum Development Company continued its decline with a loss of N35 to close at N665.10. Mobil Oil Nigeria followed with a drop of N7.50 to close at N177. Total Nigeria lost N3.70 to close at N240. International Breweries declined by N2.85 to close at N54.15. Guinness Nigeria dropped by N2 to close at N103 per share while Nigerian Breweries and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated declined by 90 kobo each to close at N128.10 and N17.10 respectively.

On the positive side, Nestle Nigeria led the advancers with a gain of N19 to close at N1,339. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria followed with a gain of N2.85 to close at N30.90. Forte Oil rose by N1.90 to close at N41.90. MRS Oil Nigeria added N1.35 to close at N28.35. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria chalked up 90 kobo to close at N19.65 while Guaranty Trust Bank garnered 70 kobo to close at N$6 per share.

Total turnover stood at 352.89 million shares valued at N4.14 billion in 4,807 deals. Japaul Oil & Maritimes Services was the most active stock with a turnover of 80.29 million shares valued at N58.08 million. Zenith Bank followed with a turnover of 59.85 million shares worth N1.8 billion while FBN Holdings placed third with 24.33 million shares worth N301.22 million.

Read also: States disrupt FAAC meeting

Most analysts however remained optimistic about the outlook for equities.

“Following another negative close today (Tuesday) and weaker investor sentiment, we believe market performance in the near term would rebound. Our view is further buttressed by the fact that the Relative Strength Index (RSI), a technical indicator which measures market momentum, is currently at 33.8 which is close to the oversold region,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Analysts at SCM Capital maintained that the current valuation provides attractive bargain noting that Relative Strength Index (RSI) which mirrors market momentum is currently close to the oversold region, as such a rebound is expected in near term.

“Despite continued selloffs, we reiterate our positive outlook for the equities market, as strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals continue to support likelihood of gains,” Cordros Capital stated.

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

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