Equities Slip Further With N138b Loss

• Equities Slip Further With N138b Loss

Nigerian equities declined for the second consecutive trading session yesterday as investors stepped up profit-taking transactions amidst concerns that global equities slowdown may negatively impact the domestic equities market. Most advanced and emerging global markets have witnessed contractions in recent days.

With nearly three losers for every gainer, the benchmark index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed average decline of 0.87 per cent yesterday, equivalent to net capital loss of N138 billion. Nigerian equities had lost N135 billion on Monday.

The sustained decline moderated the average year-to-date return to 14.73 per cent, which also reflected the market-wide decline in returns across sectors.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the Exchange declined from its opening value of N15.884 trillion to close at N15.746 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the benchmark index that tracks share prices at the stock market, also slipped from its opening index of 44,261.72 points to close at 43,877.30 points.

All sectoral indices also closed negative with the NSE Banking Index leading the contraction with a loss of 2.1 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index dropped by 1.0 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index declined by 0.5 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index dropped by 0.4 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index slipped by 0.3 per cent.

11 Plc, formerly Mobil Oil Nigeria led the losers with a loss of N6 to close at N210. Unilever Nigeria followed with a drop of N2.10 to close at N45.35. Flour Mills of Nigeria declined by N1.60 to close at N32.40. Zenith Bank lost N1.45 to close at N31.20. Julius Berger Nigeria dropped by N1.35 to close at N27.30 while Lafarge Africa lost NN1.10 to close at N51.90 per share.

On the positive side, Dangote Sugar Refinery and Stanbic IBTC Holdings led the gainers with a gain of N1 each to close at N22 and N47 respectively. PZ Cussons Nigeria added 35 kobo to close at N24. Red Star Express gathered 25 kobo to close at N5.75. Eterna rose by 20 kobo to close at N5.88 per share while Fidson Healthcare rose by 19 kobo to close at N4.90.

Total turnover stood at 717.15 million shares valued at N4.91 billion in 6,720 deals. Lasaco Assurance was the most active stock with 182.76 million shares valued at N59 million. FCMB Group followed with a turnover of 90.49 million shares worth N258.56 million while Skye Bank placed third 80 million shares worth N101.96 million.

“Following sustained sell offs across global equity markets, we anticipate a further decline in the local bourse in trading sessions ahead. As a result, we envisage possible bargain opportunities for investors ahead of the full year earnings season,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Analysts at FSDH Securities noted that the “current decline in prices is expected to be temporary and will present bargain hunting opportunities in stocks with good fundamentals ahead of corporate earnings season”.