Equities open with N40b loss amid profit-taking – Nigerian equities reopened yesterday on a negative note as investors opened up market orders to take profit on several mid and large-cap stocks that had accrued substantial gains in recent period.
Benchmark indices for the stock market indicated average decline of 0.3 per cent, equivalent to net capital depreciation of N40 billion. With this, average year-to-date return moderated to 5.6 per cent.
The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped from its opening index of 28,415.31 points to close at 28,337.49 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted companies also declined from its opening value of n14.852 trillion to close at N14.812 trillion.
With more decliners than advancers, most sectoral indices closed on the negative. The NSE Insurance Index dropped by 1.8 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index dipped by 0.9 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index slipped by 0.5 per cent while the NSE Banking Index dropped by 0.1 per cent. Meanwhile, the NSE Oil and Gas Index appreciated by 1.4 per cent.
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Total turnover also dropped marginally by 3.9 per cent to 369.2 million shares valued at N5.1 billion. Banks continued to dominate the activities chart. United Bank for Africa was the most active stock with 95.1 million shares valued at N678.7 million. Guaranty Trust Bank followed with 65.5 million shares valued at N1.9 billion while Zenith Bank placed third with 47.2 million shares worth N944.3 million.
There were 16 gainers against 13 losers. Flour Mills of Nigeria led the losers with a drop of N1 to close at N21. BUA Cement followed with a loss of 60 kobo to close at N40.90. MTN Nigeria Communications lost 50 kobo to close at N140. International Breweries declined by 13 kobo to close at N4.29 while Africa Prudential dropped by 13 kobo to close at N5.60 per share.
On the positive side, Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the rally with a gain of N10 to close at N420. Eterna followed with a gain of 36 kobo to close at N3.99 while Access Bank chalked up 10 kobo to close at N7.90 per share.
“We expect losses in the market to be sustained as investors book profit,” Afrinvest Securities stated.
Nigerian equities had last week recorded the highest gain in a global survey of major advanced, emerging and frontier stock markets as sustained rally left Nigerian investors with net capital gains of N747 billion at the weekend.
Benchmark indices for the Nigerian stock market indicated average return of 5.3 per cent last week, equivalent to net capital gains of N747 billion.