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NSE LIVE! Equities lose N54bn as profit-taking resumes

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NSE LIVE! Equities lose N54bn as profit-taking resumes

After three consecutive positive trading sessions, investors on Wednesday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) turned round to monetise accumulated gains and take profits.

A flood of sale orders on Wednesday overwhelmed the demand and forced several transactions to close at lower prices.

With 30decliners to 23 advancers, quoted equities ended Wednesday with average loss of 0.34 per cent, equivalent to net capital loss of N54 billion. Average year-to-date return pared down to 15.95 per cent.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the NSE dropped from its opening value of N15.950 trillion to close at N15.896 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the benchmark index that tracks share prices, declined from its opening index of 44,493.79 points to close at 44,343.65 points.

Most sectoral indices also closed negative. The NSE Consumer Goods Index declined by 1.1 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index dropped by 0.3 per cent while the NSE Banking Index slipped by 0.2 per cent. On the upside, the NSE Industrial Goods Index rose by 1.9 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index dipped by 0.3 per cent.

Breweries led the decliners with International Breweries leading with the highest los of N3.15 to close at N60.85. Nigerian Breweries followed with a drop of N3 to close at N147. PZ Cussons Nigeria dropped by N1.15 to close at N22.40. Union Bank of Nigeria lost 30 kobo to close at N7.90. Newrest ASL declined by 25 kobo to close at N5.10 while FCMB Group and UACN Property Development Company dropped by 16 kobo each to close at N3.06 and N3.04 respectively.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Investors jostle for penny stocks as equities sustain rally

Total turnover stood at 651.90 million shares valued at N7.76 billion in 7,091 deals. Diamond Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 68.59 million shares worth N218.81 million. FCMB Group followed with 63.61 million shares valued at N194.86 million while Skye Bank placed third with 63.12 million shares worth N94.17 million.

On the positive side, Flour Mills of Nigeria led the advancers with a gain of N3.10 to close at N33.95. Lafarge Africa followed with a gain of N2.40 to close at N54.95. Forte Oil rose by 95 kobo to close at N50.95. Berger Paints added 45 kobo to close at N9.95. Unilever Nigeria chalked up 30 kobo to close at N44.50 while Eterna added 28 kobo to close at N5.95 per share.

“Market performance was mostly negative across sectors with renewed sell pressure. The equity market may appreciate in the coming sessions as investors take positions in some value stocks ahead of the release of full year earnings,” FSDH Securities stated.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities noted that Wednesday’s performance was in line with expectation given three days of consecutive gains.

Afrinvest Securities however maintains its near term positive outlook for the equities market.

 

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