NSE LIVE! Equities lose N54b as sell-off resumes

After a two-day breather, Nigerian equities again came under sell pressure on Thursday as investors sought to either take profit or readjust their portfolios in line with the increased return in the fixed income market.

With more than three losers to every gainer, the stock market witnessed widespread relapse with average decline of 0.56 per cent, equivalent to a loss of N54 billion. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities dropped from N9.687 trillion to close at N9.633 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI), the main value-based index that tracks prices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), declined from opening index of 28,205.62 points to close at 28,046.96 points.

The average year to date return worsened to 2.08 per cent, raising the inflation-adjusted nominal return to -18.58 per cent. With benchmark interest rate of 14 per cent, the average loss by investors stands at more than 32 per cent.

All sectoral indices at the NSE closed in the red, underlining the widespread sell-off that marked the five-hour trading session. The NSE Insurance Index declined by 1.5 per cent. The NSE Banking Index dropped by 1.4 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index depreciated by 0.5 per cent. The NSE Oil and Gas Index slipped by 0.2 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index dipped by 0.03 per cent.

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Nigerian Breweries, NSE’s second most capitalised stock, led the losers with a loss of N1.29 to close at N138.71. Flour Mills of Nigeria dropped by 87 kobo to close at N21.14. Zenith Bank declined by 49 kobo to close at N16.31. Berger Paints dropped by 40 kobo to close at N7.63 while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated dropped by 35 kobo to close at N12.93.

“We believe the upward review of the benchmark rate by the MPC coupled with the current attractive yields in the money market will dampen interest in equities in the short term as we expect investors may redirect funds to the money market,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Total turnover stood at 270.72 million shares valued at N4.83 billion in 4,609 deals. The most active stock was FBN Holdings with 86.19 million shares valued at N289.8 million. Guaranty Trust Bank followed with a turnover of 38.61 million shares worth N902.11 million while Skye Bank placed third with a turnover of 22.8 million shares valued at N16.20 million.

On the positive side, MRS Oil, which released half-year results that showed improved performance, led the gainers with a gain of N3.59 to close at N38.78. UAC of Nigeria followed with a gain of 22 kobo to close at N20.73. Guinness Nigeria rose by 20 kobo to close at N94.20. Pharma Deko added 8.0 kobo to close at N1.73 while Guaranty Trust Bank inched up by 3.0 kobo to close at N23.50 per share.

 

 

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