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NSE LIVE! High-cap stocks depress equities

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NSE LIVE! High-cap stocks depress equities

Nigerian equities rallied on Monday on the back of widespread bargain-hunting but the overall market position was moderated by losses recorded by a handful of influential, highly capitalised stocks.

With 26 gainers to 17 losers, the momentum of general transaction appeared to have shifted to bargain-hunting and buy, but losses recorded by large-cap stocks in the energy, cement and breweries sector left the overall market position with a net loss of N11 billion.

Aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped from N9.500 trillion to close at N9.489 trillion. The benchmark index for the stock market, the All Share Index (ASI), slipped from 27,659.44 points to close at 27,629.90 points, representing average decline of 0.11 per cent.

The negative overall market position was largely driven by losses suffered by Forte Oil, Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Dangote Cement, Guinness Nigeria and Lafarge Africa Plc.

Forte Oil led the losers with a loss of N18.99 to close at N175.91. Seplat Petroleum Development Company, the highest-priced oil and gas company, followed with a loss of N16.50 to close at N313.50. Dangote Cement, the most capitalised company on the Nigerian stock market, dropped by N4.50 to close at N175. Guinness Nigeria declined by N1.48 to close at N95 while Lafarge Africa lost 41 kobo to close at N59.24 per share.

Meanwhile, the positive momentum also shown in the above-average turnover of 378.51 million shares valued at N2.27 billion traded in 3,519 deals. FBN Holdings was the most active stock with a turnover of 114.92 million shares valued at N399.52 million. Access Bank followed with 48.59 million shares worth N254.43 million while Skye Bank recorded a turnover of 41.38 million shares valued at N32.47 million.

On the positive side, Nigerian Breweries led the gainers with a gain of N6.90 to close at N144.91. Total Nigeria rose by N1.50 to close at N181.50. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated added 59 kobo to close at N12.39. Oando gathered 51 kobo to close at N5.63 while Zenith Bank gained 28 kobo to close at N15.65 per share.

Analysts remained cautious on the outlook for the stock market citing contractions in corporate earnings and generally tough overall macroeconomic environment.

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