NSE LIVE! Equities lose N25bn amidst tight trade

Losses suffered by leading quoted companies on Tuesday halted the early December rally that started this month as investors started the traditional cautious trading that seeks to enhance portfolio closure for the year.

With a mix of bargain-hunting and profit-taking, the overall market position showed a mixed and tight performance. Two sectoral indices advanced while two others declined, underlining the mix of bargain-hunting and profit-taking that characterized trading on Tuesday.

The NSE Oil & Gas Index rose by 2.8 per cent while the NSE Banking Index appreciated by 0.1 per cent. On the other hand, The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 0.8 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index slipped by 0.6 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index closed flat.

However, losses recorded by a group of the most capitalised stocks at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), including Nestle Nigeria, Guinness Nigeria, Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries, Zenith Bank and Oando pushed the market to a loss of N25 billion.

Aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the NSE declined from N8.856 trillion to close at N8.831 trillion, indicating a loss of N25 billion. The All Share Index (ASI), the value-based index that tracks prices at the stock market, also declined by 0.28 per cent from 25,743.03 points as against 25,671.23 points. The average year-to-date return worsened to -10.37 per cent.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Oil stocks rally equities amidst widespread selling spree

Nestle Nigeria, NSE’s highest-priced stock, led the 15-stock losers’ list with a loss of N10 to close at N805. Guinness Nigeria, the second most capitalised breweries stock, followed with a loss of N4.01 to close at N76.32. Dangote Cement, NSE’s most capitalized company, declined by N1.84 to close at N158.16. Nigerian Breweries, the second most capitalised stock on the NSE, lost N1 to close at N144.

Cadbury Nigeria dropped by 15 kobo to close at N11.15. Oando dropped by 14 kobo to close at N4.56 while GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria, Diamond Bank and Zenith Bank lost 5.0 kobo each to close at N14.10, 86 kobo and N14.30 respectively.

On the positive side, oil and gas stocks continued to lead price appreciation. Total Nigeria led the 14-stock gainers’ list with a gain of N28.29 to close at N304.44. Forte Oil followed with a gain of N7.36 to close at N79.30. Flour Mills of Nigeria rose by 49 kobo to close at N18.99. Nascon Allied Industries added 30 kobo to close at N6.95 while Portland Paints and Products Nigeria chalked up 18 kobo to close at N2.08 per share.

Total turnover stood at 189.41 million shares valued at N2.49 billion in 2,894 deals. The most active stock was Diamond Bank with a turnover of 66.55 million shares worth N57.85 million. FCMB Group followed with 26.15 million shares worth N26.16 million while Guaranty Trust Bank placed third with 13.87 million shares valued at N320.42 million.

Analysts said they expected the market to continue to fluctuate largely to the downside as there were no major changes to drive sustained recovery.

 

 

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