NSE LIVE! Equities on edge amidst selling pressure

Nigerian equities remained on a tight stretch on Wednesday amidst widespread selling pressure.

With more than two decliners to every gainer, the market showed marginal decline of about N1 billion as continuing rally in breweries stocks moderated the decline.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) slipped marginally from its opening value of N8.739 trillion to close at N8.738 trillion.

The All Share Index (ASI), the benchmark index for the stock market, also declined slightly from 25,251.63 points to close at 25,249.74 points. Average year-to-date return was almost unchanged at -6.05 per cent.

With 19 losers to eight gainers, the market continued to show large underlying negative sentiments. The NSE Industrial Goods Index dropped by 1.0 per cent. The NSE Banking Index declined by 0.4 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index lost 0.5 per cent. However, the NSE Consumer Goods Index rose by 0.9 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 0.1 per cent.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Breweries sustain modest rally at Stock Exchange

Nestle Nigeria, NSE’s highest-priced stock, led the losers with a loss of N23.99 to close at N576. Unilever Nigeria followed with a loss of N1.61 to close at N30.69. Lafarge Africa dropped by 90 kobo to close at N39. UAC of Nigeria declined by 65 kobo to close at N12.65. Conoil declined by 49 kobo to close at N35 while Guaranty Trust Bank dropped by 38 kobo to close at N23.72 per share.

Total turnover stood at 118.45 million shares valued at N1.80 billion in 2,579 deals. The three most active stocks were Zenith Bank, 42.03 million shares; United Capital, 14.07 million shares and Fidelity Bank, which recorded a turnover of 8.99 million shares.

On the positive side, breweries continued their rally on Wednesday. Nigerian Breweries led with a gain of N4.99 to close at N129.99. Guinness Nigeria followed with a gain of N2.85 to close at N64.88. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated added 14 kobo to close at N9.99. Oando gathered 11 kobo to close at N4.95 while Zenith Bank chalked up 10 kobo to close at N14.80 per share.

“Market performance continues to be hampered by lingering investor pessimism on earnings result and weak macroeconomic fundamentals. In light of the foregoing, we expect the market to remain soft in tomorrow (Thursday)’s trading session,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

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