NSE LIVE! Equities slip again, uncertainty grips market

The Nigerian equity market remained in the grip of the downers yesterday as continuing decline heightened uncertainties about the prospects of a recovery before the end of this year. The benchmark index at the stock market fell by 0.47 per cent to hit 11-week low. The decline yesterday nudged the negative average year-to-date return at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to-18.58 per cent.
With sustained decline in recent period, market analysts were uncertain about the market performance in the weeks ahead, opting to look at medium to long-term horizon.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities, a Lagos-based dealer at the NSE, attributed the downtrend to low investors’ appetite and the tough macroeconomic.
“Investors-both foreign and domestic – confidence has been significantly dampened over the past two months due to the plethora of negative news flows on earnings and corporate governance,” Afrinvest Securities stated.
The dealing firm however noted that with the benchmark index already significantly below its support line, there could be some recovery as bargain-hunters move to take advantage of undervalued stocks.
Afrinvest Securities however cautioned that investors with a short-term horizon should trade cautiously, underlining the uncertainties in the market.
The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, dropped to 28,219.44 points from its opening index of 28,351.28 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also declined from N9.746 trillion to close at N9.700 trillion, representing a loss of N46 billion.
Investors particularly might have decided on major portfolio reviews by selling down on their holdings in stocks that had held down considerable gain in recent period. These stocks included Nigerian Breweries, Forte Oil, Seven-Up Bottling Company, Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Guaranty Trust Bank.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities hit new low as average loss climbs to 18.20%

Forte Oil led the 25-stock losers’ list with a loss of N14.50 to close at N275.50. Nigerian Breweries followed with a loss of N1.86 to close at N120.60. Okomu Oil Palm declined by N1.42 to close at N27.48. Seven-Up Bottling Company dropped by 99 kobo to close at N184. Stanbic IBTC Holdings declined by 95 kobo to close at N18.43. Guaranty Trust Bank dropped by 25 kobo to close at N22.10. Red Star Express lost 21 kobo to close at N4.04. Dangote Sugar Refinery slipped by 20 kobo to close at N6.30. Ikeja Hotel lost 17 kobo to close at N3.42 while Oando dropped by 13 kobo to close at N7.22 per share.
Total turnover was below recent average with the exchange of 143.7 million shares valued at N1.45 billion in 2,412 deals. FBN Holdings was the most active stock with 53.21 million shares valued at N267.73 million. United Bank for Africa placed second on the activity chart with a turnover of 11.52 million shares valued at N42.2 million while Access Bank placed third with a turnover of 10.5 million shares worth N48.7 million.
On the upside, Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the 15-stock gainers’ list with a gain of N4 to close at N230. Berger Paints followed with a gain of 45 kobo to close at N9.58. Ashaka Cement added 39 kobo to close at N22.40. Zenith Bank rose by 25 kobo to close at N16.49 while Union Bank of Nigeria garnered 15 kobo to close at N5.70 per share.

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