NSE LIVE! Equities start last quarter negative 

Nigerian equities started the fourth quarter with a tinge of profit-taking as investors sought to lock in profit from the September rally that netted N254 billion net capital gains. 

The market reopened on Tuesday with widespread selling sentiments, pushing down the market value of all quoted equities by N20 billion. The Federal Government had declared Monday as public holiday.

With 17 losers against 11 gainers, the twin indicators at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed average decline of 0.20 per cent on Tuesday, equivalent to a loss of N20 billion. The All Share Index (ASI), the benchmark index for the stock market, declined from its opening index of 28,335.40 points to close at 28,277.93 points.

Aggregate market capitalisation of all quoted companies also dropped from N9.733 trillion to close at N9.713 trillion. With these, average year-to-date return now stands at -1.27 per cent.

Sectoral indices showed mixed performance. The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 1.7 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index slipped by 0.1 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index closed flat. However, the NSE Banking Index appreciated by 1.4 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index inched up by 0.1 per cent.

Highly capitalised stocks exacerbated the decline with Nestle Nigeria, the highest-priced stock, leading with a loss of N10 to close at N815. Nigerian Breweries, the second most capitalised stock, declined by N4.15 to close at N145.85. Conoil dropped by N3 to close at N33.10. Flour Mills of Nigeria lost 82 kobo to close at N21.10. 

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria dropped by 55 kobo to close at N19.05. E-Tranzact lost 29 kobo to close at N5.69 while United Bank for Africa declined by 19 kobo to close at N4.01.

Read also: NSE RoundUp! Equities round off 4-week rally with N30b gains

Total turnover stood at 198.1 million shares valued at N1.32 billion in 2,806 deals. The most active stock was Access Bank with a turnover of 41.09 million shares worth N225.74 million. FCMB Group followed with 37.66 million shares valued at N40.84 million while United Bank for Africa (UBA) placed third with 23.92 million shares worth N97.5 million.

On the positive side, Guaranty Trust Bank recorded the highest gain of 99 kobo to close at N24.99. Zenith Bank followed with a gain of 36 kobo to close at N15.57. Champion Breweries rose by 14 kobo to close at N2.65. Oando added 7.0 kobo to close at N5.47 while FCMB Group and Livestock Feeds rose by 4.0 kobo each to close at N1.11 and 90 kobo respectively.

“Weaker trading activities amidst bearish sentiment signals cautious trading by equity investors ahead of an uncertain earnings season and speculative development in the currency market. We expect market to broadly trade sideways this week with tepid activity as investors continue to anticipate the first batch of earnings result,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities stated.

 

 

 

 

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