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NSE LIVE! Equities relapse as selling pressure returns
In from Success Allantee …
After a four-day rally orchestrated by intense bargain-hunting and increased demand for equities, selling pressure re-emerged yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as investors hurried to lock-in gains from the recent rally and readjust their portfolios.
With three decliners to every advancer, the overall market situation was generally negative. The surge in open market sale orders, which underlined the willingness of investors to sell at discount, pushed the market’s benchmark again below its psychological level of 30,000 basis points. Average day-on-day return stood at -1.17 per cent, equivalent to a loss of N122 billion.
The decline yesterday nudged the negative average year-to-date return at the Nigerian stock market to -13.81 per cent. This implies inflation-adjusted return of -23.01 per cent.
“After the bargain-hunting activities that lifted the broader index in previous sessions, we believe today’s performance was broadly driven by profit-taking, signalling sustained softness of investment confidence in the Nigerian market. Consequently, we restate our advice that investors should be wary of speculation but maintain a medium to long term position in equities,” Lagos-based securities firm, Afrinvest Securities, stated in post-trading review.
Aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the NSE dropped from N10.394 trillion to close at N10.272 trillion, indicating the wide gap between 37 losers and 12 gainers. The market-wide benchmark, the All Share Index (ASI), a value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, slipped below its psychological level to close at 29,870.86 points as against its opening index of 30,225.34 points.
Read also: NSE LIVE! Investors scramble for banking stocks as equities sustain rally
Analysts at SCM Capital said there were still several stocks on offer by the closure of the market, setting the market up for another possible negative session on Thursday.
“With more equities on the offer counter, we anticipate the likelihood of another round of profit-taking at tomorrow`s trading session,” SCM Capital stated.
Oil and gas stocks featured prominently within the top losers’ bracket. Forte Oil led with a loss of N12.42 to close at N236.08. Seplat Petroleum Development Company followed with a drop of N12.23 to close at N232.46. Nigerian Breweries placed third with a loss of N2.09 to close at N124.50. Lafarge Africa declined by N2 to close at N101. UAC of Nigeria lost N1.75 to close at N33.25. Guaranty Trust Bank dropped by 82 kobo to N23.68. International Breweries slipped by 74 kobo to N17.01. Dangote Sugar Refinery dropped by 63 kobo to N6.25. Oando slipped by 55 kobo to N10.52 while Cement Company of Northern Nigeria dropped by 43 kobo to close at N8.30 per share.
Total turnover stood at 439.66 million shares valued at N4.53 billion in 4,352 deals. Zenith Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 173.6 million shares valued at N2.64 billion. Skye Bank followed with a turnover of 51 million shares valued at N143.7 million while United Bank for Africa recorded a turnover of 41.2 million shares worth N135.5 million.
On the upside, Total Nigeria led the gainers with a gain of 99 kobo to close at N151.99. Berger Paints followed with a gain of 43 kobo to close at N9.05. Stanbic IBTC Holdings added 35 kobo to close at N2. Vitafoam Nigeria chalked up 24 kobo to close at N6 while Cutix and Ikeja Hotel rallied 14 kobo each to close at N1.55 and N3,12 respectively.
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