Despite Dividends Declaration, Nigerian Stock Exchange Closes in Red Last Week

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) resumed its bearish trend last week as stocks closed in the red across the board despite the numerous dividends declaration.

The NSE All-Share Index depreciated by 0.76 percent or 299.46 index points to close at 38,916.74 index points last week, down from 39,216.20 index points recorded in the previous week.

Market value of listed stocks dipped by the same 0.76 percent or N157 billion from N20.518 trillion posted in the previous week to settle at N20.361 trillion last week.

In the four trading days due to the Easter Holidays, investors traded 1.445 billion shares worth N19.039 billion in 17,400 deals, against a total of 1.530 billion shares valued at N21.311 billion that exchanged hands in the previous week in 20,016 deals.

In terms of volume traded, the Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 1.033 billion shares valued at N13.369 billion traded in 9,179 deals, therefore, contributing 71.51 percent and 70.22 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

The Conglomerates Industry followed with 131.153 million shares worth N578.393 million in 811 deals. The third place was Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 92.937 million shares worth N1.750 billion in
2,892 deals.

The top three most traded stocks were Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Union Bank Nig. Plc and Wema Bank Plc. The three accounted for 670.354 million shares worth N10.331 billion traded in 1,990 deals, therefore, contributed 46.39 percent and 54.26 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

Linkage Assurance Plc led top gainers with 41.18 percent while Daar Communications Plc led top losers with 16 percent as shown below.

The Exchange year-to-date returns stood at -3.36 percent.