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NSE LIVE! Equity losses widen as turnover rises

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NSE LIVE! Equities regain rally as more companies release Q1 earnings

The second trading session of the year at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) also ended in the negative with nearly two losers for every gainer. Turnover rose considerably as more investors and trading agents returned from the long holiday. Turnover volume and value jumped by 98 per cent and 170 per cent respectively.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the benchmark value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities on the NSE, dropped by 0.95 per cent on Tuesday to close at 28,102.14 points as against its opening index of 28,370.32 points. It had declined by the same margin on the first trading session of the year. In two days, the average year-to-date return at the market stood at -1.89 per cent.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also dropped from N9.757 trillion to close at N9.665 trillion, representing a loss of N92 billion. Over the two-day trading session, the market has lost N186 billion.

The negative overall market position was driven by both widespread selling sentiments and losses suffered by highly capitalised stocks, which hold strong influence on market direction. Most indices at the NSE indicated a selling market. The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 2.6 per cent over the losses recorded by industry’s heavyweights such as Nestle Nigeria and Nigerian Breweries. The NSE Oil and Gas Index declined by 0.4 per cent after Mobil Oil Nigeria recorded the second highest loss. The NSE Industrial Goods Index slipped by 0.3 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index declined by 0.06 per cent. However, the NSE Banking Index rose by 0.3 per cent.

Nestle Nigeria led the 28-stock losers’ list with a loss of N10 to close at N820. Mobil Oil Nigeria followed with a loss of N8 to close at N152. Nigerian Breweries dropped by N6.46 to close at N122.74. Stanbic IBTC Holdings slipped by N1.53 to close at N15. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria dropped by N1.39 to close at N31.10. PZ Cussons Nigeria lost N1.28 to close at N24.42. Cadbury Nigeria dropped by 85 kobo to close at N16.30. Lafarge Africa slipped by 79 kobo to N96.01. Guinness Nigeria dropped by 54 kobo to close at N119.98 while Zenith Bank lost 40 kobo to close at N13.90 per share.

“Given the current poor sentiments equities, we do not expect to see any significant upside in performance in the near term as a mere visit by the IMF Boss may not trigger positive sentiments. However, policy pronouncements from policy makers that can trigger spending and impact on corporate earnings may be instrumental in pushing positive market performance in the medium term,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities stated in post-trading review. Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde is on a four-day official visit to Nigeria. She flew in on Monday.

Total turnover stood at 195.97 million shares valued at N1.89 billion in 2,981 deals. Custodian and Allied was the most active stock with a turnover of 46.04 million shares worth N188.2 million in 23 deals. Guaranty Trust Bank followed with a turnover of 31.96 million shares worth N574.76 million shares in 436 deals. United Bank for Africa placed third with a turnover of 21.45 million shares valued at N72.86 million in 161 deals.

On the positive side, Total Nigeria led 14 other gainers with a gain of N1.49 to close at N148.50. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated rose by 84 kobo to close at N17.64. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria added 30 kobo to close at N9.96. Access Bank and Seplat Petroleum Development Company rose by 10 kobo each to close at N4.95 and N203.10 while African Prudential Registrars and Champion Breweries gathered 8.0 kobo each to close at N2.60 and N3.30 respectively.

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