Equities market opens week negative, drops by 0.38%
By Kayode Tokede
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) equities market on Monday closed transaction on a negative note to halt the seven consecutive days gaining outcomes.
The negative downturn was due to sell-off sentiments in majorly Consumer Goods and Industrial sectors.
Accordingly, the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 154.36 basis points, representing a decline of 0.38 per cent, to close at 40,714.00 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value dipped by N81 billion to close at N21.215 trillion.
Sector performances were somewhat negative today with the Banking (+0.75per cent) sector closing positive, while Consumer Goods (-one per cent) and Industrial (-0.75per cent) sectors recorded a negative performance. Conversely, Oil and Gas sector closed flat.
The market loss was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Nigerian Breweries, BUA Cement, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and Guinness Nigeria.
On this week performance, analysts at United Capital Plc expected the positive performance to be sustained as investors seek out bargains and continued positioning for third quarter (Q3) earnings season in the equity market.
However, the market breadth closed at par, recording 17 gainers and 17 losers. NEM Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 9.95 per cent to close at N2.10, while Champion Breweries and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) followed with a gain 9.52 per cent each to close at N2.30 and N6.90 respectively, per share.
Royal Exchange rose by 8.77 per cent to close at 62 kobo, while Lafarge Africa gained 4.93 per cent to close at N24.50, per share. On the other hand, Sovereign Trust Insurance led the losers’ chart by 8.33 per cent to close at 22 kobo, per share. Nigerian Breweries followed with a decline of 6.06 per cent to close at N46.50, while AIICO Insurance lost 5.26 per cent to close at 90 kobo, per share.
University Press lost 5.06 per cent to close at N1.50, while Universal Insurance shed 4.55 per cent to close at 21 kobo, per share.
The total volume of trades decreased by 42.21 per cent to 191.312 million units, valued at N2.590 billion, and exchanged in 4,395 deals. Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings (FBNH) topped the activity chart with 24.154 million shares valued at N234.249 million. ETI followed with 19.339 million shares worth N130.358 million, while Chams Plc traded 17.697 million shares valued at N4.226 million.
Zenith Bank traded 12.226 million shares valued at N300.714 million, while GTCO transacted 12.103 million shares worth N343.624 million.
Analysts at InvestmentOne Research said, “The equities market closed down today due to the losses recorded in the Consumer Goods and Industrial sector.
“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.”
