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NSE LIVE! Equity turnover rises by 39% as market stumbles further

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NSE LIVE! Equities sustain rally with N89b gain

In from Allantee Success…

Nigerian equities remained under intense selling pressure today (Tuesday) as investors flooded the tight market with more market orders, leaving hard-pressed investors with little choice than to sell their stocks at lower prices.

The negative demand-supply imbalance sustained the decline in overall market position, extending the downtrend to five consecutive trading sessions.

With 18 gainers to 25 losers, the negative market position underlined widespread caution on the outlook of the Nigerian equity market as well as substantial losses among market-leading highly capitalised stocks.

The All Share Index (ASI), the value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, dropped by 0.20 per cent to close at 32,380.26 points as against its opening index of 32,444.12 points. The downtrend also reflected on the aggregate market value of all quoted equities, which dropped from N11.075 trillion to close at N11.054 trillion.

The decline further depressed the negative year-to-date return, which closed worse at -6.57 per cent. When adjusted for the current inflation of nine per cent, real return was worse at -15.57 per cent, without adjustment for any cost of capital.

The market witnessed substantial increase in turnover as investors angled to break through the tight exit. Total turnover rose to 217.13 million shares valued at N2.99 billion in 3741 deals, representing increase of 39 per cent and 80 per cent on the turnover volume and value respectively. Turnover had stood at 155.87 million shares worth N1.66 billion in 3,230 deals on Monday.

“We expect the current mood to continue in view of the negative market sentiments,” said analysts at SCM Capital, formerly Sterling Capital Markets.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities lose 0.29% in first trading session

But most analysts agreed that the sustained depreciation has locked in substantial future value in quoted equities.

“While negative market performance has been driven by blurred policy signals and events in the political scenery, we advise investors to maintain a medium to long term horizon in equities by taking advantage of the current cheap valuations in value stocks,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities said.

Total Nigeria topped the losers’ list with a drop of N6 to close at N151. Nigerian Breweries dropped by N2.91 to close at N139.25. Unilever Nigeria and Lafarge Africa declined by N1.50 each to close at N42 and N103. PZ Cussons Nigeria lost N1.13 to close at N30.12. Guinness Nigeria dwindled by 96 kobo to N146.24. Oando lost 64 kobo to close at N15.05. Berger Paints slipped by 56 kobo to close at N10.68. Union Bank of Nigeria dropped by 44 kobo to close at N8.91 while Ashaka Cement declined by 40 kobo to close at N21.10 per share.

Zenith Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 84.76 million shares worth N1.61 billion in 385 deals. Wema Bank occupied a distant second position with a turnover of 16.06 million shares worth N15.8 million in 55 deals. Guaranty Trust Bank placed third with a turnover of 15.73 million shares worth N421.51 million in 303 deals.

On the upside, Forte Oil recorded the highest value gain of N6 to close at N198. Dangote Cement followed with a gain of N2 to close at N172. Stanbic IBTC Holdings rose by N1.20 to close at N25.75. Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals added 13 kobo to close at N1.47 while Pharma Deko gained 10 kobo to close at N2.25 per share.

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