After two successive trading sessions of positive sentiment, the Nigeria equities market on Wednesday shed N57 billion, following sell-off on 15 stocks.
In summary, the All Share Index (ASI) decreased by 171.28 basis points, representing a decline of 0.44 per cent to close at 26,339.11 basis points from 26,456.39 basis points it closed on Tuesday.
Consequently, the market capitalisation lost N57.09 billion, to close at N12.822 trillion from N12.878trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Total Nigeria, Dangote Cement, Unilever Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank and PZ Cussons Nigeria.
Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said that “As sentiment still remains weak toward the stock market, we maintain our bearish outlook in the absence of catalysts to spur investors’ appetite for equities.”
Market breadth closed negative, with 13 gainers versus 15 losers. Ikeja Hotel recorded the highest price gain of 9.09 per cent, to close at 96 kobo, while A.G. Leventis Nigeria and Jaiz Bank followed with a gain 7.14 per cent each, to close at 30 kobo and 60 kobo, respectively, per share.
Fidelity Bank went up by 3.83 per cent to close at N1.90, while Access Bank appreciated by 3.14 per cent to close at N9.85, per share. On the other hand, Total Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 9.98 per cent, to close at N110.90, per share. PZ Cussons Nigeria followed with a decline of 9.91 per cent to close at N5, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance went down by 7.14 to close at 39 kobo, per share.
Unilever Nigeria lost 5.61 per cent to close at N18.50, while Oando shed 3.90 per cent to close at N3.20, per share.
However, the total volume traded increased by 61.38 per cent to 610.58 million shares, worth N11.10 billion, and traded in 5,031 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 336.61 million shares valued at N5.79 billion. Access Bank followed with 73.797 million shares worth N714.2 million, while Nigerian Breweries traded 63.84 million shares valued at N3.01 billion.
Guaranty Trust Bank traded 24.25 million shares valued at N695.56 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 16.38 million shares worth N110.798 million.
However, Analysts at Investment One Research said, “The equities market closed down today following the losses recorded in most sectors. We maintain that investors should take positions in quality names with a medium to long time investment horizon as prices remain attractive at current levels.”
