NSE LIVE! Investors dump banking stocks as equities lose N121b

The downtrend at the Nigerian stock market extended to its fifth consecutive trading session yesterday as a flood of open sale orders rattled several highly capitalised banks. Banking stocks dominated the top decliners’ list and activity chart, with three of the four most capitalised banking stocks leading the depressive trading.
The All Share Index (ASI), the common index that tracks prices of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), slumped to 30,752.63 points as against its opening index of 31,107.11 points, representing a day-on-day decline of 1.14 per cent, its highest decline in a day so far this month.
Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also dropped from N10.662 trillion to close at N10.541 trillion, indicating a loss of N121 billion. The steep decline nudged the average year-to-date return to -11.27 per cent.
With 35 losers to 10 gainers, the decline yesterday was fuelled by losses across several stock categories, but banking stocks featured prominently among the underlying stocks that pushed the market into the red. Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria’s most capitalised banking stock, recorded a loss of 96 kobo to close at N22.80. Zenith Bank, the second most capitalised banking stock, followed with a loss of 47 kobo to close at N15.93. FBN Holdings, the fourth most capitalised banking stock, trailed with a loss of 33 kobo to close at N6.39 per share.
The three banks were also the three most traded stocks, underlining the selling pressure that forced the prices down. Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with a turnover of 77.63 million shares worth N1.24 billion. Guaranty Trust Bank followed with a turnover of 31.09 million valued at N713.4 million while FBN Holdings placed third with a turnover of 26.96 million shares worth N173.2 million.
Other top losers yesterday included Seplat Petroleum Development Company, which dropped by N13 to close at N285; Guinness Nigeria, which lost N6 to close at N121; Seven-Up Bottling Company, which slipped by N5 to close at N190; Forte Oil, which dwindled by N4.03 to close at N207.97; Nestle Nigeria, which dropped by N2 to close at N858; Nigerian Breweries, which lost N1.50 to close at N125 and Dangote Cement, which declined by N1.15 to close at N183 per share.
“We expect the current bearish market mood to prevail at tomorrow`s trading session, particularly as Friday is the last trading day of the week,” SCM Capital stated.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities stumble again, return worsens to -10.24%

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities said investors remain pessimistic on banks’ earnings as macroeconomic risk weigh on the sector’s performance.
“Given the sustained downward pressure on global prices of crude, we continue to expect further bearish performance in the Nigerian equity markets. Hence, we reiterate our advice to investors to maintain a medium to long term perspectives,” Afrinvest Securities said in post-trading review.
Total turnover stood at 305.8 million shares valued at N4.01 billion in 4,168 deals. Total Nigeria led the few gainers, rising by N7.50 to close at N157.50. Unilever Nigeria followed with a gain of N3.19 to close at N41. Mobil Oil Nigeria added N2.20 to close at N159 while CAP rose by N1.64 to close at N37.70 per share.

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