NSE LIVE! Stock market’s capitalisation drops below N10tn

The downtrend at the Nigerian stock market brought the market to a new low yesterday as aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped below the psychological resistance threshold of N10 trillion.

After losing N228 billion on Monday, additional loss of N113 billion yesterday brought the aggregate market value of all quoted equities to N9.90 trillion, heightening apprehensions that the market might fall further once it has lost the psychological staying power.

“Our outlook has not changed much, we anticipate another round of bearish mood at (Wednesday) tomorrow`s session. The heightened risk induced by declining oil prices at the global markets may continue to curtail investment decisions on equities,” SCM Capital stated in post-trading review.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities said the hope for the market lies in the long-term. “Short term investors appear to be taking a cue from jitters across global markets in our view. Consequently, we strongly advise investors to stay clear of short term speculation on equities but maintain a long term positions in stocks with sound fundamentals,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

The widespread losing streak was evident as there were more than five losers against every gainer. The All Share Index (ASI), the common value-based benchmark index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, declined by 1.39 per cent from 29,214.13 points to close at 28,807.00 points.

The sustained depression further worsened the negative simple average year-to-date return to -16.88 per cent, or inflation-adjusted return of -26.08 per cent. There were 33 losers against six gainers. All other group indices, with the exception of the insurance and alternative securities market’s indices, also closed in the negative.

Nigerian Breweries, stock market’s second most capitalised stock, led the losers’ list with a drop of N5.88 to close at N112.12. Guinness Nigeria followed with a loss of N3 to close at N113. Julius Berger Nigeria declined by N2.16 to close at N41.15. PZ Cussons Nigeria dropped by N1.34 to close at N25.59. Dangote Cement lost 95 kobo to close at N169.05. International Breweries dwindled by 92 kobo to close at N17.53. Guaranty Trust Bank dropped by 85 kobo to close at N20.70. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Oando lost 52 kobo each to close at N18.01 and N9.90 respectively while Berger Paints dropped by 43 kobo to close at N8.34 per share.

Turnover was above average with the exchange of 604.02 million shares worth N2.92 billion in 4,093 deals. Resort Savings and Loans was the most active stock with a turnover of 164.84 million shares worth N82.42 million. United Bank for Africa followed with a turnover of 124.45 million shares valued at N374.38 million while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria placed third with a turnover of 55.89 million shares worth N120.37 million.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities lose N228b amidst global stock plunge

On the upside, Stanbic IBTC Holdings led the six-stock gainers’ list with a gain of 20 kobo to close at N18.20. Fidson Healthcare followed with a gain of nine kobo to close at N3.30. Fidelity Bank added six kobo to close at N1.26. Access Bank rose by three kobo to close at N4.50. Costain (West Africa) added two kobo to close at 59 kobo while Learn Africa inched up by a kobo to close at N1.

 

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