Profit-taking Drags Equities Down by N43bn

• Profit-taking Drags Equities Down by N43bn

Profit-taking on equities that had gained over time pressured Nigerian stocks to plummet on Wednesday, shedding approximately N43bn.

The performance of the equities market was dragged by a declining All-Share Index, which lost 34 basis points to close at 36,652.82 basis points; while the year-to-date gain moderated to 36.4 per cent.

A total of 336.385 million shares valued at N1.834bn exchanged hands in 3,689 deals.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange market capitalisation trimmed by N43bn to close at N12.616tn from N12.659tn.

Respective losses by 2.9 per cent, 1.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent in Nigerian Breweries Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc were the major drags to Wednesday’s performance.

Similarly, activity level worsened as volume and value traded shrank by 4.7 per cent and 43.6 per cent to 336.4 million units and N1.8bn, respectively.

Sector performance was mixed as three of five indices closed higher. The insurance index gained 2.4 per cent and led gainers on the back of renewed interest in AxaMansard Insurance Plc and Linkage Assurance Plc, which appreciated by 10 per cent and 6.7 per cent, accordingly.

The oil/gas index followed suit, advancing by 0.6 per cent on account of price appreciation in Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, which gained 1.6 per cent. Similarly, the industrial goods index added 0.2 per cent following gains in the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc, which appreciated by 9.2 per cent.

However, price depreciation in Nigerian Breweries dragged the consumer goods index 1.1 per cent lower while the banking index lost 0.2 per cent on the back of losses in UBA and Stanbic IBTC.

Investor sentiment stayed positive on Wednesday as market breadth remained unchanged from yesterday’s stance following 19 stocks, which advanced against 18 decliners.

The best performing stocks were AxaMansard, CCNN and Linkage Assurance, while Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc and University Press Plc were the worst performing stocks, shedding five per cent, 4.7 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively.

Commenting on the performance of the market, analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited, in a post, said, “As indicated by the market breadth, we expect sentiment to stay strong in the interim as investors take position ahead of the release of nine-month 2017 corporate earnings, which are expected to be largely positive.”