NSE LIVE! Equities’ downtrend worsens amidst growing sell pressure

There were more than three decliners for every advancer at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday as increased sell pressure continued to depress the share prices of most quoted equities.

Benchmark indices at the NSE indicated average day-on-day decline of 1.56 per cent on Thursday, equivalent to net capital depreciation of N209.4 billion. The average year-to-date return slipped to 41.15 per cent.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the main value index that tracks share prices, dropped from its opening index of 38,534.64 points to close at 37,933.70 points. The supplementary listing of 5.302 billion ordinary shares of International Breweries Plc however neutralized the impact on the aggregate market value of all quoted equities, which closed higher at N13.497 trillion as against its opening value of N13.420 trillion.

Nearly all sectoral indices closed negative with the exception of the NSE Oil & Gas Index, which rose by 3.8 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index dropped by 3.1 per cent. The NSE Banking Index declined by 1.0 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index slipped by 0.6 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 0.4 per cent.

There were 32 decliners against 10 advancers. Dangote Cement-Nigeria’s most capitalised quoted company, led the decliners with a loss of N9.88 to close at N230. Flour Mills of Nigeria followed with a drop of N3.32 to close at N30.87. Lafarge Africa declined by N1 to close at N44. Nascon Allied Industries lost 69 kobo to close at N19.31 while Nigerian Breweries dropped by 65 kobo to close at N139 per share.

Read also: Q3 NBS data shows banking sector expanded its workforce for first time in 2017

On the positive side, Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the advancers with a gain of N38.74 to close at N540.05. Nestle Nigeria followed with a gain of N1.55 to close at N1,464.05. Julius Berger Nigeria rose by N1 to close at N28. Unilever Nigeria added 40 kobo to close at N40.70 while Guaranty Trust Bank chalked up 10 kobo to close at N40 per share.

Total turnover stood at 289.30 million shares valued at N6.22 billion in 4,617 deals. FBN Holdings was the most active stock with 39.97 million shares valued at N357.14 million. FCMB Group followed with 33.14 million shares worth N43.09 million while Zenith Bank placed third with 29.43 million shares worth N729.16 million.

“With the ongoing profit taking in the equity market especially in banking and industrial goods counters, we expect a rebound in market sentiment on the last trading day,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Analysts at FSDH Securities noted that investor sentiments remained weak amidst sustained sell-offs.

“The current downtrend and decline in some stocks prices present attractive opportunities for bargain hunters in stocks with good fundamentals,” FSDH Securities stated.

 

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