NSE LIVE! Equities lose N25b in month-end trading

Nigerian equities reopened this week to wide negative sentiments as investors sought to rebalance their portfolios in the last trading session in October. With nearly two decliners to an advancer, quoted equities lost N25 billion, representing average day-on-day decline of 0.27 per cent.

The decline nudged the average 10-month year-to-date return at the Nigerian stock market to -4.97 per cent. The momentum of activities also increased above recent average, underlining the selling pressure.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped from its opening value of N9.375 trillion to close at N9.350 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI), the benchmark index for the stock market, declined from 27,294.21 points to close at 27,220.09 points.

Turnover trended above average with the exchange of 219.89 million shares valued at N1.88 billion in 3,955 deals. Investors’ preference still remained largely tilted towards low-price stocks, otherwise known as penny stocks. WAPIC Insurance was the most active stock with a turnover of 26.9 million shares valued at N13.46 million. Sterling Bank followed with a turnover of 26.3 million shares worth N23.7 million while United Bank for Africa placed third with 21.7 million shares worth N92.14 million.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities sustain rally with N40b gain

Sectoral indices showed mixed performance across the sectors. The NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 1.1 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index rose by 0.5 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index inched up by 0.1 per cent. On the other hand, the NSE Industrial Goods Index dropped by 1.9 per cent while the NSE Banking Index declined by 0.9 per cent.

Market analysts attributed the negative trading session that saw 16 gainers against 29 losers to some emerging corporate earnings reports.

Seven-Up Bottling Company led the losers with a loss of N7.94 to close at N150.86. Lafarge Africa dropped by N2.50 to close at N47.50. Cadbury Nigeria lost 65 kobo to close at N12.95. Flour Mills of Nigeria dropped by 44 kobo to close at N19.08 while Guaranty Trust Bank dipped by 35 kobo to close at N23.50.

On the positive side, Total Nigeria led the contrarian stocks with a gain of N15.01 to close at N345. Nestle Nigeria followed with a gain of N4 to close at N795. MRS Oil and Gas rose by N3.35 to close at N43.35. Okomu Oil Palm added N2.05 to close at N43.05 while PZ Cussons chalked up N1 to close at N17.50 per share.

“We believe earnings releases will continue to drive market performance in the interim, hence we urge caution on the part of investors with short term investment horizon,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities stated.

 

 

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