Equities market drops by 0.12% to commence week on negative note

By Kayode Tokede

Trading in the equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) continued on last week’s bearish performance, as selloffs in Lafarge Africa, PZ Cussons Nigeria and, nine others triggered the market’s loss.

The negative performance was buoyed by investors sell-off sentiment in all the major market sectors excluding the Insurance sector.

In summary, the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) dipped by 48.39 basis points, representing a decline of 0.12 per cent, to close at 39,434.69 basis points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value lost N25 billion to close at N20.546 trillion.

The market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Lafarge Africa, PZ Cussons Nigeria, Union Bank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank Holding Company (GTCO) and Eterna.

However, the market breadth closed positively, recording 21 gainers as against 11 losers. FTN Cocoa Processors recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at 44 kobo, per share. Pharma Deko followed with a gain 9.88 per cent to close at N1.89, while Transcorp Hotels went up by 9.69 per cent to close at N4.30, per share.

Courteville Business Solutions rose by 9.68 per cent to close at 34 kobo, while Learn Africa gained 9.30 per cent to close at N1.41, per share. On the other hand, Lafarge Africa led the losers’ chart by 5.29 per cent to close at N21.50,  per share. PZ Cussons Nigeria followed with a decline of 4.17 per cent to close at N5.75, while Union Bank declined by 3.81 per cent to close at N5.05, per share.

Eterna lost 2.36 per cent to close at N6.20, while FCMB Group  shed 2.27 per cent to close at N3.02, per share.

The total volume of trades declined by 32.2 per cent to 211.327 billion units, valued at N2.029 billion, and exchanged in 3,939 deals. Transactions in the shares of Chams Plc topped the activity chart with 47.953 million shares valued at N10.572 million. GTCO followed with 20.936 million shares worth N586.123 million, while Honeywell Flour Mills traded 14.554 million shares valued at N45.128 million.

Courteville Business Solutions, traded 13.023 million shares valued at N4.340 million, while Wema Bank transacted 10.340 million shares worth N8.973 million.

Trading this week, analysts at United Capital Plc said that “We expect equity investors to remain fixated on developments in the fixed income market as there will be a NT-bills primary market auction during the week.

“We expect the stop rate on the 364-day bill to close southwards, albeit slower than the pace from the previous auction. We think sustained decline in stop rates coupled with possible positivity from big banks’ earnings could push the bourse into positive territory for the week.”

InvestmentOne Research said, “The equities market closed down today due to the losses recorded in major sectors.

“Going forward, we expect investor’s sentiments to be swayed by the search for real positive returns and developments in the interest rate space. We reiterate that this may be a great period to pick up some quality names with a medium to long-term investment horizon.”