Equities market drops by N66bn to halt positive sentiment

By Kayode Tokede

Transactions on the Nigerian stock market yesterday closed on a negative note to halt the four consecutive trading sessions of bullish sentiment, as investors’ investments declined by N66 billion.

The downturn was buoyed by price depreciation in the Banking and Oil &Gas sectors, as market watchers continue to assess the published first half (H1) performance of some of the companies and await the release of others.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index (NGX ASI) dropped by 0.32 per cent or 126.32 basis points to 38,801.51 basis points yesterday from 38,927.83 basis points the stock market opened for trading.

Consequently, the value of all listed stocks, market capitalisation dropped by N65.82billion or 0.32 per cent to close at N20.216trillion from N20.282trillion.

Sector performances were mixed today with the Banking dropping by 0.3 per cent to close at 379.33 basis points from 380.46 basis points, while NGX Oil/Gas index depreciated by 0.04 per cent to close at  371.12  basis points from 371.28 basis points the market opened for trading.

NGX Insurance rose by 0.25 per cent to 195.51 basis points while NGX Consumer Goods closed yesterday at 594.8 basis points,  0.26per cent from 593.28 basis points.

In addition, the Industrial inched up by 0.04 per cent to 1,970.95 basis points.

The market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; MTN Nigeria Communications, Ardova, Guaranty Trust Bank Holding Company, United Capital and Access Bank.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said, “In the final trading session, we anticipate that the negative sentiment would persists on the back of profit-taking activities.”

However, the market breadth closed positively, recording 18 gainers as against 16 losers. Conoil recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N20.35, per share. Consolidated Hallmark Insurance followed with a gain 8.93 per cent to close at 61 kobo, while Sovereign Trust Insurance went up by 7.69 per cent to close at 28 kobo, per share.

Regency Alliance Insurance rose by 7.14 per cent to close at 45 kobo, while Mutual Benefits Assurance gained 5.56 per cent each to close at 38 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Ardova led the losers’ chart by 6.25 per cent to close at N15.00,  while Veritas Kapital Assurance followed with a decline of four per cent to close at 24 kobo, per share.

AIICO Insurance lost 2.06 per cent to close at 95 kobo, while Japaul Gold and Ventures and Wapic Insurance shed 1.92 per cent each to close at 51 kobo each, per share.

The total volume of trades declined by 32.2 per cent to 139.783 billion units, valued at N1.409 billion, and exchanged in 3,655 deals. Transactions in the shares of United Bank for Africa (UBA) topped the activity chart with 16.433 million shares valued at N123.545 million. GTCO followed with 13.005 million shares worth N364.852 million, while Zenith Bank traded 11.936 million shares valued at N291.551 million.

Wema Bank traded 9.601 million shares valued at N8.491 million, while AIICO Insurance transacted 9.356 million shares worth N8.846 million.