NSE Round Up! Equities buckle under profit-taking amidst global surge

Nigerian equities came under intense selling pressure last week as investors sought to take profit on previous week’s rally.

Most Nigerian equities were stunted and there were more losers than gainers among the price movers.

Besides, turnover slowed down considerably as foreign exchange and fiscal finance continued to overshadow the macro economy.

In the global markets, it was largely a positive trading week as prospects for crude oil recovery and stable global economic growth eased concerns across advanced and emerging markets.

The benchmark index at the Nigerian stock market, the All Share Index (ASI)-a value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); declined by 1.04 per cent last week to close at 24,432.51 points as against its week’s opening index of 24,689.69 points.

With this, the negative overhang at the stock market worsened with the average year-to-date return worsening to -14.70 per cent.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the NSE dropped from its week’s opening value of N8.491 trillion to close at N8.403 trillion, representing a loss of N88 billion.

There were 22 gainers against 37 losers last week compared with 26 gainers against 30 losers recorded in the previous week. The largest group of stocks remained flat.

There were 131 unchanged stocks last week against 134 unchanged stocks in the previous week.

Segmental analysis showed widespread selling pressure but many stocks braced the downtrend, especially in the oil and gas and banking sectors.

The NSE Main Board Index rose by 0.95 per cent. The NSE Banking Index appreciated by 0.04 per cent.

The NSE Consumer Goods Index inched up by 0.21 per cent while the NSE Oil and Gas Index returned the highest gain of 3.30 per cent. However, the NSE Insurance Index dropped by 2.24 per cent.

The NSE Premium Index, which tracks the trio of FBN Holdings, Zenith Bank and Dangote Cement, recorded the highest week-on-week loss of 4.66 per cent.

The NSE 30 Index, which tracks the 30 most capitalised stocks, declined last week by 0.27 per cent.

The NSE Lotus Islamic Index depreciated by 1.34 per cent.

The NSE Industrial Goods Index lost 2.44 per cent while the NSE Pension Index declined by 0.31 per cent.

Percentage change price analysis showed that investors weighed considerably on liquidity and earnings potentials.

Low-priced stocks known for low liquidity and unpredictable earnings dominated the top losers’ list.

Unity Bank led with a loss of 11.76 per cent to close at 60 kobo. Portland Paints and Products Nigeria followed with a loss of 10.16 per cent to close at N3.36.

Learn Africa dropped by 10 per cent to close at 81 kobo.

Northern Nigeria Flour Mills declined by 9.52 per cent to close at N6.65 while Caverton Offshore Support Group dropped by 9.19 per cent to close at N1.68.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Nigerian equities rebound amidst global stock, oil rally

On the other hand, Seplat Petroleum Development Company continued to rise on earnings expectation, leading the contrarian stocks with a gain of 19.98 per cent to close at N302.48. May & Baker Nigeria followed with a gain of 17.50 per cent to close at 94 kobo.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria added 15.70 per cent to close at N24.17. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company rose by 13.88 per cent to close at N4.02 while NPF Microfinance Bank increased by 9.09 per cent to N1.08.

Total turnover last week stood at 1.202 billion shares worth N9.641 billion in 13,712 deals as against a total of 1.407 billion shares valued at N17.277 billion that traded in 14,914 deals two weeks ago.

The financial services sector led the activity chart with 1.005 billion shares valued at N6.471 billion traded in 8,313 deals; thus contributing 83.66% and 67.12% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The consumer goods sector followed with 54.333 million shares worth N2.114 billion in 2,365 deals.

The third place was occupied by the conglomerates sector with a turnover of 45.977 million shares worth N184.205 million in 518 deals.

The trio of Zenith International Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc accounted for 500.360 million shares worth N5.449 billion in 4,011 deals, contributing 41.63% and 56.52% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

On the global scale, most advanced and emerging markets in Europe, Asia and America rallied as concerns over crude oil outlook eased. The London, the UK FTSE Index rose by 4.8%. In United States, the S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ Index rose by 2.8% and 3.5% respectively.

The Brazil IBOVESPA appreciated by 4.2%. The China Shanghai Composite Index gained 3.5%. India BSE Index added 3.1%.

Russia RTS Index appreciated by 2.7%. The Japan Nikkei Index rose by 6.8%. The France CAC Index grew by 6.2 per cent.

The Germany DAX Index increased by 5.4% while the Hong Kong HANG SENG rose by 5.3%.

In Africa, the South Africa FTSE/JSE rose by 1.2%. The Kenya NSE Index rose by 2.2 per cent while Egypt EGX inched up by 0.4%. The Ghana GSE Composite Index declined by 0.4%.

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