NSE LIVE! Equities suffer N236bn loss amidst large-stock selloff

Nigerian equities lost N236 billion on Wednesday as profit-taking transactions on large-cap stocks overwhelmed the underlying positive sentiment at the market. While there were more advancers than decliners, losses by some of the most capitalised stocks at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) shaved off N236 billion from the overall market capitalisation.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks share prices at the NSE, declined by 1.51 per cent from its opening index of 43,609.77 points to close at 42,952.70 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities dropped correspondingly by N236 billion from its opening value of N15.667 trillion to close at N15.431 trillion. With this, the average year-to-date return dipped to 12.31 per cent.

The negative overall market position was largely due to losses suffered by high-cap stocks Dangote Cement, Nestle Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigerian Breweries, Zenith Bank and Access Bank.

All sectoral indices also closed negative with the exception of the NSE Insurance Index, which appreciated by 0.4 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index led the decliners with a drop of 1.8 per cent. The NSE Banking Index declined by 0.9 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 0.7 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index dipped by 0.5 per cent.

Read also: Nigeria’s economy still vulnerable —IMF

Dangote Cement-NSE’s most capitalised company led the decliners with a drop of N9.90 to close at N265. Total Nigeria followed with a loss of N9.80 to close at N240.20. Nestle Nigeria-NSE’s highest-priced stock dropped by N5 to close at N1,375. Nigerian Breweries-the fourth most capitalised stock declined by N4.40 to close at N125.60. Guaranty Trust Bank-NSE’s most capitalised financial institution dropped by 90 kobo to close at N47.60 per share. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria lost 65 kobo to close at N19.35 while Access Bank dipped by 30 kobo to close at N12.85 per share.

On the upside, Flour Mills of Nigeria led the advancers with a gain of N1.40 to close at N36. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria followed with a gain of N1 to close N22. Eterna rose by 59 kobo to close at N6.40. Unilever Nigeria added 50 kobo to close at N60.10. Cadbury Nigeria chalked up 40 kobo to close at N16. Nascon Allied Industries rose by 25 kobo to close at N24.75 per share while Danfote Flour Mills added 15 kobo to close at N16.65 per share.

Total turnover stood at 270.33 million shares worth N5.18 billion in 4,799 deals. Zenith Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 64.6 million shares worth N2.01 billion. Japaul Oil & Maritimes Services ranked second with a turnover of 17.48 million shares worth N14.16 million while Sterling Bank trailed with a turnover of 16.9 million shares valued at N30.9 million.

“Despite the loss in today (Wednesday)’s session, we believe legroom for gains still exist; more so, as investors position ahead of fourth quarter 2017 corporate earnings releases,” Cordros Capital stated.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities also remained positive about the market’s outlook. “Although the market closed in the red, we anticipate renewed buying interest in the near term, in anticipation of positive corporate earnings releases,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now