NSE LIVE! Equities under selling pressure as market opens to low trade

In from Success Allantee …
Nigerian quoted equities came under intense selling pressure Monday as the stock market opened with significant slowdown in demand. Turnover volume at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped by 72 per cent while the market ended with its second consecutive decline with a modest loss of 0.04 per cent.
Market pundits were cautious with many analysts expecting the market to continue on the slow note within the next trading sessions.
“We expect the current mood to continue at tomorrow`s (today) trading session in view of profit taking activities to reap recent gains,” SCM Capital stated in its post-trading comment.
Afrinvest Securities noted the waning investors’ appetite and called for cautious buys in the sessions ahead, although the undervalued nature of most stocks could spur bargain-hunting.
“Given cheap valuations of some key tickers in the market at the moment, we expect bargain hunting to persist, although at a lower rate. Nonetheless, we advise investors to trade cautiously while maintaining a medium to long term investment horizon,” Afrinvest Securities said.
The All Share Index (ASI), the composite value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities on the NSE, recorded a marginal decline of 0.04 per cent to close at 31,427.68 points as against its opening index of 31,441.71 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) followed the downtrend, slipping from N10.777 trillion to close at N10.772 trillion. The negative start slightly nudged the negative average year-to-date return at the stock market to -9.32 per cent.
With 27 losers to 15 gainers, the market appeared set for a major down shift but transactions on Dangote Cement, the market most capitalised stock, helped to moderate the overall decline.
Losses by severally highly capitalised stocks coloured the overall market position. Forte Oil, which had led the rally in previous week, topped the decliners’ list yesterday with a loss of N4 to close at N204. Nigerian Breweries, the market’s second most capitalised stock, appeared to counterbalance gain by Dangote Cement, dropping by N3.50 to close at N131.50. Flour Mills of Nigeria followed with a loss of N2.10 to close at N26.90. PZ Cussons Nigeria dropped by N1.46 to close at N33.05. UAC of Nigeria declined by 75 kobo to close at N36.25. Zenith Bank slipped by 70 kobo to N16.20. UACN Property Development Company lost 50 kobo to close at N8.60. Northern Nigeria Flour Mills dropped by 30 kobo to close at N13. Lafarge Africa depreciated by 25 kobo to N103 while Red Star Express lost 23 kobo to close at N4.37 per share.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities lead global stock with 4.18% gain

The momentum of activities at the stock market waned considerably with a below-average turnover of 146.70 million shares valued at N1.44 billion in 3,271 deals. E-Tranzact was the most active stock with a turnover of 40.47 million shares valued at N145.68 million in two deals. Zenith Bank followed on the activity chart with 16.83 million shares worth N283.24 million in 418 deals. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria placed third with a turnover of 9.66 million shares valued at N25.82 million in 130 deals.
Meanwhile, gains by Dangote Cement and 14 other companies helped to moderate the decline. Mobil Oil Nigeria led the contrarian stocks with a gain of N5 to close at N165. Dangote Cement followed with a gain of N4 to close at N185. Seven-Up Bottling Company rose by N1.50 to close at N194. Presco gathered N1 to close at N32 while Roads Nigeria added 31 kobo to close at N6.60 per share.

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