NSE RoundUp! Equities lose N82bn in profit-taking week

Nigerian equities closed the week with average week-on-week decline of 0.92 per cent, equivalent to a loss of N82 billion as investors sought to take profit on the back of the full-year earnings season and reposition their portfolios for the first quarter.

A sustained rally in the last two trading sessions of the four-day week failed to neutralize the hangover from the selling spree that marked the first two trading sessions of the week. With nearly three decliners to every advancer, aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped from the week’s opening value of N8.909 trillion to close the week at N8.827 trillion.

The benchmark index for the stock market, the All Share Index (ASI), which doubles as the sovereign equities index for Nigeria, slipped from the week’s index on board of 25,746.52 points to close the week at 25,510.01 points, representing average decline of 0.92 per cent. This built the negative average year-to-date return to -5.08 per cent.

There were four trading sessions last week as the Federal Government had declared Friday 14th and Monday 17th of April, 2017 as public holiday in commemoration of the Easter celebrations.

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With 37 decliners to 13 advancers, all sectoral indices also closed negative, underlining the selling pressure across the sectors. The NSE 30 Index, which tracks the 30 most capitalised stocks, declined by 1.02 per cent. The NSE Banking Index dropped by 0.40 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index lost 0.92 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index declined by 1.58 per cent. The NSE Oil and Gas Index depreciated by 3.06 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index dropped by 1.55 per cent.

The momentum of activities however increased as bargain-hunting for low-priced stocks combined with profit-taking to increase turnover. Total turnover stood at 1.191 billion shares worth N6.037 billion in 11,820 deals as against a total of 786.176 million shares valued at N5.828 billion traded in 14,343 deals.

The financial services sector continued to dominate the activity chart with 1.014 billion shares valued at N3.070 billion traded in 6,700 deals; thus contributing 85.07 per cent and 50.86 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The consumer goods sector followed with 51.888 million shares worth N1.581 billion in 2,025 deals while the conglomerates sector placed third with a turnover of 47.517 million shares worth N66.904 million in 542 deals.

Low-priced financial services stocks dominated the top activity chart. The trio of Fidelity Bank Plc, FCMB Group Plc and Standard Trust Assurance Plc accounted for 679.949 million shares worth N639.862 million in 1,622 deals, contributing 57.06 per cent and 10.60 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Also traded during the week were a total of 16 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N1,088 in a deal compared with a total of 1,510 units valued at N4,113 traded in three deals in the previous week.

In the debt segment, a total of 4,800 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N4.892 million were traded in 10 deals, compared with a total of 11,064 units valued at N10.256 million traded in 21 deals two weeks ago.

Fidelity Bank, the most active stock for the week, was also the highest gainer, in percentage terms, riding on the back of impressive dividend yields. Fidelity Bank rose by 21.43 per cent to close at N1.02. C & I Leasing followed with 14.29 per cent to close at 64 kobo. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria rose by 5.33 per cent to close at 79 kobo. Fidson Healthcare rallied 5.26 per cent to close at N1. International Breweries rose by 4.92 per cent to close at N17.50 while NPF Microfinance Bank added 4.88 per cent to close at N1.29 per share.

On the downside, Dangote Sugar Refinery led the losers with a loss of 14.29 per cent to close at N6. FCMB Group dropped by 12.17 per cent to close at N1.01. Mobil Oil Nigeria declined by 10 per cent to N324.01. Jaiz Bank lost 8.70 per cent to close at N1.05 while Dangote Flour Mills dropped by 7.46 per cent to close at N4.22 per share.

“Next week, we expect market performance to continue to fluctuate in margins as investors await the release of first quarter 2017 earnings reports,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

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