- 23 Stocks Lose, Equities Market Sheds N33bn
The Nigerian equities market, on Tuesday, depreciated by N33bn as 33 stocks recorded losses at the close of trading.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange market capitalisation dropped to N9.041tn from N9.074tn, while the All-Share Index closed at 26,278.20 basis points from 26,373.83 basis points.
A total of 371.867 million shares worth N1.714bn exchanged hands in 3,522 deals.
The stock market reverted the previous day’s positive outing as the NSE returned negative at the close of trading on Tuesday. The NSE-All Share Index pared by 0.36 per cent, settling the year-to-date return at -2.22 per cent.
However, volume of shares traded and market value of transactions appreciated by 113.71 per cent and 45.82 per cent, accordingly.
The market breadth reflected 18 gainers as Unity Bank Plc emerged as the outperformer, after appreciating by 5.08 per cent to close at N0.62.
Diamond Bank Plc, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc and FCMB Group Plc recorded 5.04 per cent, 4.89 per cent, 4.82 per cent and 4.76 per cent gains, respectively.
However, the shares of 7UP Bottling Company Plc, NEM Insurance Plc, AG Leventiz Nigeria Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc and Forte Oil Plc depreciated by five per cent, 4.71 per cent, 4.55 per cent, 4.55 per cent and 4.46 per cent, respectively, with respective closing prices of N101.65, N0.81, N0.84, N1.05 and N70.30.
Measuring market performances by the NSE sector indices, the banking sector appreciated by 0.02 per cent; the insurance sector rose by 0.38 per cent; and the industrial sector progressed by 0.04 per cent; while the food/beverage sector and oil/gas sector depreciated by 1.52 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively.
“Tuesday’s performance may be attributed to profit taking activities on certain counters that rallied in the previous week. For the remaining days of the week, we expect the seesaw mood to persist,” Meristem Securities Limited’s analysts said in a post.
Meanwhile, amid relatively unchanged liquidity, the interbank call rate declined marginally to 10.60 per cent (previous: 10.67 per cent). At the foreign exchange interbank market, the naira spot and one year forward rate remained stable at N305.25 and N378, respectively.
Yields in Treasury bills space extended the upward trend, rising 19 basis points on the average.
Notably, the 16 day-to-maturity, 37DTM and the 65DTM bills recorded the most significant advances with their respective yields closing at 13.62 per cent, 16.75 per cent and 12;.87 per cent.
Bearish trading resurfaced in the bonds market as yields advanced by three basis points on the average across the benchmark notes.
Particularly, yields on the 15.54 per cent FGN February 2020, 16.39 per cent FGN January 2022 and 12.40 per cent FGN March 2036 bonds rose four basis points, six basis points and seven basis points, respectively, to close at 16.41 per cent, 16.14 per cent and 16.58 per cent in that order.
To this end, the analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Plc said, “Given the liquidity constraint (following recent mop appreciations), we expect the bearish trading to persist in the Treasury bills market.
“Meanwhile, the Debt Management Office will conduct its monthly bond auction today (Wednesday), offering N40bn apiece on the 14.50 per cent FGN July 2021 and 12.40 per cent FGN March 2036 bonds and N50bn on the 12.50 per cent FGN January 2026 bond. Hence, we anticipate a slightly tepid trading session for the bonds.”
