NSE LIVE! Equities in tight trades as sell offs moderate

There were still more losers than gainers, but the momentum of the downtrend at the Nigerian stock market slowed down considerably yesterday as investors sought out severally highly capitalised stocks in year-end portfolio realignments.

The overall benchmark index indicated a marginal decline of 0.01 per cent as the gap between the gainers and losers narrowed. The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), slipped from 26,950.76 points to close at 26,948.43 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also dropped marginally from N9.266 trillion to close at N9.265 trillion. Average year-to-date return now stands at -22.24 per cent.

With 16 gainers to 23 losers, pricing trend underlined improved sentiments. Most group indices at the NSE indicated improvements in buying appetites. The NSE Consumer Goods Index rose by 1.7 per cent. The NSE Banking Index appreciated by 0.3 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index rose by 0.2 per cent while the NSE Oil &Gas Index added 0.3 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index however declined by 0.9 per cent.

Analysts at FSDH Securities said the market was in a waiting game for the decision of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the United States Federal Reserve System. Foreign portfolio investors, who use the US Fed interest rates as gauge, accounts for the larger transactions on the Nigerian stock market.

Total turnover stood at 196.51 million shares valued at N2.01 billion in 2,786 deals. Sterling Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 55.09 million shares worth N100.27 million in seven deals.

Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the losers with a loss of N3.51 to close at N203. Dangote Cement, NSE’s most capitalised stock, followed with a loss of N2.85 to close at N156.10. UAC of Nigeria declined by N1.11 to close at N21.50. Cadbury Nigeria and Okomu Oil Palm dropped by N1 each to close at N19 and N27 respectively. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated dropped by 79 kobo to close at N15.85 while Berger Paints declined by 20 kobo to close at N9.70 per share.

On the other hand, Nigerian Breweries recorded the highest gain of N3.92 to close at N121.02. PZ Cussons Nigeria followed with a gain of N2.71 to close at N29.29. Ashaka Cement added N2.30 to close at N24.79. Guinness Nigeria gathered N1 to close at N123. Guaranty Trust Bank rallied 49 kobo to close at N19.58 while Union Bank of Nigeria rose by 46 kobo to close at N5.99 per share.

“With increasing activities of year-end shoppers in the market as observed in today’s marginal decline, we anticipate some marginal gains in the trading days ahead. However, we maintain that current market valuation is most attractive for medium to long term positions,” Afrinvest Securities, which trades on the NSE, stated.

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