NSE LIVE! Equities extend losing streak with 0.13% drop

Nigerian equities posted a negative performance again on Wednesday as the market remained under selling pressure from the fast moving consumer goods and oil and gas sectors.

All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 0.13 per cent to close at 26,245.34 points while the aggregate market capitalization of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) declined by N11 billion to close at N9.030 trillion.

The overall negative performance was again orchestrated by losses suffered by large-cap stocks including Guinness Nigeria, UnileverNigeria, Forte Oil, Nestle Nigeria, Mobil Oil Nigeria, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Zenith Bank.

Performance across sectors was largely bearish. The NSE Oil & Gas Index led sector losers’ closing 0.44 per cent lower due to persistent sell-offs in Forte Oil and Oando.

The NSE Consumer Goods Index went down by 0.2 per cent continued the bearish streak which has persisted since the start of the year as losses in Nestle, Guinness and Unilever dragged the index lower. Similarly, the Banking index shed 0.10 per cent due to profit taking in ETI and Zenith Bank, while the Industrial Goods and Insurance indices closed the day flat.

Market breadth closed negative with 12 gainers and 20 losers. AG Leventis led the gainers table by 4.76 per cent to close at 88 kobo per share. Cutix followed with a gain of 2.11 per cent to close at N1.45, while Airline Services gained 1.92 per cent to close at N2.65 per share.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities lose N33bn on FMCGs selloff

Also, Wema Bank went up by 1.89 per cent to close at 54 kobo and Continental Reinsurance rose by 1.82 per cent to close at N1.12 per share.

On the other hand, Guinness and Portland Paints led the laggards’ table by five per cent each, to close at N63.65 and N1.71 per share, respectively, while Diamond Bank trailed with a loss of 4.80 per cent to close at N1.19 per share.

Also, Unilever declined by 4.29 per cent to close at N33.50, while Transcorp shed by 3.33 per cent to close at 87 kobo per share.

Total volume traded appreciated by 6.17 per cent to 394.82 million shares, valued at N1.37 billion, and traded in 3,015 deals. Transactions in the shares of Continental Reinsurance topped the activity chart with 149.57 million shares valued at N164.52 million.

Fidelity Bank followed with 51.64 million shares worth N48.04 million, while United Capital traded 30.25 million shares valued at N105.46 million. Diamond Bank traded 26.13 million shares worth N31.36 and UBA transacted 21.56 million shares valued at N109.83 million.

Analysts at SCM Capital said they expected a bearish market on Thursday, although they remained confident that the current valuations still provides an attractive entry points for risk tolerant investors.

 

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