NSE LIVE! Equities remain under sell pressure with N162bn loss

Nigerian equities continued on the downtrend on Tuesday as investors pushed more shares to the stock market, seeking to lock in profits recorded from recent capital appreciation. Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that quoted equities recorded average day-on-day decline of 1.1 per cent on Tuesday, equivalent to a net capital loss of N162 billion.

With more than three decliners to every advancer, the sell pressure was evident across the sectors. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities dropped from opening value of N11.332 trillion to close at N11.170 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the main index that tracks prices at the Exchange, declined from its opening index of 32,769.80 points to close at 32,410.20 points.

Nearly all sectoral indices also closed in the red with the NSE Banking Index leading with a drop of 2.3 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index declined by 1.2 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index dropped by 1.1 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index slipped by 0.11 per cent. However, the NSE Industrial Goods Index inched up by 0.01 per cent.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities open Q3 with N120bn loss

Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the 31-stock losers’ list with a loss of N4.95 to close at N460.05. Guinness Nigeria followed with a drop of N3.39 to close at N64.54. Nigerian Breweries declined by N3 to close at N158.05. Conoil dropped by N2.11 to close at N40.23 while Julius Berger Nigeria lost N1.78 to close at N33.83.

Total turnover stood at 206.1 million shares valued at N1.7 billion. Fidelity Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 33.17 million shares valued at N42.27 million.

On the upside, Red Star Express, which declared a dividend per share of 40 kobo last week, was atop the 10-stock gainers’ list with a gain of 49 kobo to close at N5.32. Northern Nigeria Flour Mills followed with a gain of 22 kobo to close at N5.70 while Honeywell Flour Mills rose by 19 kobo to close at N2.12.

Analysts have attributed the sustained downtrend in the past three trading sessions to profit-taking transactions, citing the huge gain of N2.6 trillion recorded in the second quarter of the year.

“Nonetheless, we believe this negative trend will be reversed on account of bargain hunting in subsequent sessions,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

 

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