NSE RoundUp! Equities lose N155b in two days    

Nigerian equities traded all through the two trading sessions in last week in the negative as concerns over the health of Nigerian banking sector, cash requirements for the Muslim’s Eid-ul-Fitri celebration and portfolio rebalancing moderated investors’ appetite for quoted equities.

The stock market opened for two trading sessions as the Federal Government declared three days as public holiday to celebrate the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr.

Amidst mixed performance by global equities, Nigerian equities were mainly in the negative last week.  In nearly a free fall, there were only nine gainers against 48 losers during the week, indicating a major downtrend from 22 gainers and 52 losers recorded penultimate week. Aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped from its week’s opening value of N10.065 trillion to close at N9.910 trillion, representing a loss of N155 billion.

Nigeria’s sovereign equities’ index, the All Share Index (ASI)- which tracks mainly equities on the NSE, dropped by 1.54 per cent from its week’s opening index of 29,305.40 points to close at 28,854.98 points. The depreciation last week pared the average year-to-date return to 0.74 per cent.

Sectoral indices showed widespread selling sentiments with key gauges across the sectors closing negative. The NSE Industrial Goods Index recorded the highest decline of 4.9 per cent. The NSE Banking Index followed with 2.6 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index dropped by 1.9 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index slipped by 1.3 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index dropped by 1.1 per cent.

Skye Bank recorded the highest loss, in percentage terms, of 17.14 per cent to close at 87 kobo. Diamond Bank declined by 12.61 per cent to close at N2.01. Honeywell Flour Mills dropped by 11.80 per cent to close at N1.42. Beta Glass lost 9.74 per cent to close at N38.66 while GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria dropped by 9.73 per cent to close at N20.78 per share.

On the upside, Oando, which released a first quarter result showing net profit of N4 billion, recorded the highest gain, in percentage terms, of 20.33 per cent to close at N8.05. Unity Bank followed with a gain of 8.08 per cent to close at N1.07. Stanbic IBTC Holdings rose by 5.40 per cent to close at N16.60. Greif Nigeria added 4.98 per cent to close at N9.69 while Red Star Express rose by 4.88 per cent to close at N4.51 per share.

Total turnover stood at 377.8 million shares worth N3.64 billion in 7,466 deals as against a total of 1.47 billion shares valued at N17.065 billion traded in 21,246 deals two weeks ago. Financial services sector led the activity chart with 305.334 million shares valued at N2.011 billion traded in 4,260 deals; thus contributing 80.82 per cent and 55.23 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities in free fall as panic grips investors

The trio of FBN Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc were the most active stocks and altogether accounted for 122.347 million shares worth N1.291 billion in 1,477 deals, contributing 32.38 per cent and 35.47 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Also traded during the week were a total of 35 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N374 executed in seven deals, compared with a total of 12,695 units valued at N174,028 traded in 35 deals two weeks ago.

A total of 13,767 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N14.356 million were also traded in five deals compared with a total of 2,979 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N2.908 million traded in five deals penultimate week.

The performance of the Nigerian stock market contrasted with the bullish outlook at other major African markets and many advanced economies. In Africa, the Egypt’s EGX Index indicated improved sentiments with a gain of 4.8 per cent. Ghana’s Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index appreciated by 0.6 per cent while Kenya’s Nairobi Stock Exchange Index inched up by 0.3 per cent.

In the United States of America, the twin indices, the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ Index rose by 0.8 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively. The European and Asian markets traded largely negative with concerns about the Britain’s exit from the European Union still shaping the markets. The United Kingdom’s FTSE Index declined by 0.01 per cent. France’s CAC Index dropped by 2.6 per cent. Germany’s DAX Index slipped by 2.2 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei Index slowed by 3.7 per cent while the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined by 1.1 per cent.

In the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), it was a mixed performance. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose by 1.9 per cent while Russia’s RTS Index appreciated by 0.9 per cent. However, South Africa’s FTSE Index depreciated by 2.1 per cent. Brazil’s IBOVESPA Index also dropped by 0.4 per cent while India’s Bombay Stock Exchange Index slipped by 0.1 per cent.

Analysts were divided on the outlook for the Nigerian equities market. While many analysts expected an uptick as investors rally for bargain-hunting, many other analysts were worried that concerns over the health of banking sectors could further moderate investors’ appetite.

 

 

 

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