NSE LIVE! Equities drop by 0.63%

In from Success Allantee …

The downtrend at the Nigerian stock market persisted yesterday as widespread decline in share prices shaved off about N66 billion from the market capitalisation.

All benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed in the red as a double in the volume of activities further depressed the weak demand and elongated the losing streak that had seen the market losing an average of 11.66 per cent so far this year.

The All Share Index (ASI), NSE’s common index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, declined to 30,618.81 points as against its opening index of 30,807.54 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted companies also dropped by N66 billion from N10.559 trillion to N10.493 trillion.

Market analysts said the grueling decline had been further orchestrated by weak first half earnings by quoted companies. Most companies that have released their half-year earnings report for 2015 have shown mixed performance, with slow top-line and depressed bottom-line.

“We expect the current negative mood to continue as more unimpressive half-year results are released to the market,” said analysts at SCM Capital.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities called for caution, urging investors to look beyond immediate period and place their funds on future cash cows.

“We reiterate our position that investors should maintain a medium to long term position in counters with sound fundamentals,” Afrinvest Securities stated in post-trading review.

Seven-Up Bottling Company led the 29-stock losers’ list with a drop of N3.10 to close at N182. Guinness Nigeria followed with a drop of N2.90 to close at N138.50. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria dropped by N1.50 to close at N42. Flour Mills of Nigeria lost 99 kobo to close at N28. Oando declined by 60 kobo to N12.96. Zenith Bank dropped by 48 kobo to N16.50. Stanbic IBTCH Holdings slipped by 40 kobo to close at N22.50. Guaranty Trust Bank dropped by 38 kobo to close at N24.60 while PZ Cussons Nigeria and Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) declined by 29 kobo each to close at N28.71 and N7.79 respectively.

On the other hand, Total Nigeria led 12 others on the gainers’ list with addition of N1 to close at N163. Forte Oil rose by 50 kobo to N184.50. Nigerian Breweries gathered 22 kobo to close at N123.02. UAC of Nigeria chalked up 10 kobo to close at N41.50 while Dangote Sugar Refinery, Nascon Allied Industries and Transnationwide Express rose by eight kobo each to close at N6, N6.70 and N1 respectively.

Total turnover doubled to 370.46 million shares valued at N2.17 billion in 3,465 deals. Access Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 135.11 million shares worth N663.82 million in 144 deals. Chams followed with a turnover of 104.70 million shares worth N52.35 million in three deals while Zenith Bank placed third with a turnover of 31.82 million shares worth N534.23 million in 473 deals.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities’ return worsens amid mixed earnings reports

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