Selloff persists in equities market as index plunges further by 0.12%

Despite price gains that outweighed losses, the Nigerian equities market reopened the week on a downturn, causing the All-Share index (ASI) to plummet further by 0.12 per cent.

Specifically, at the close of trading yesterday, the ASI fell by 28.16 points or 0.12 per cent to 22,705.19 points. Accordingly, investors lost N15 billion in value as market capitalisation declined to N11.832 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Lafarge Africa, Dangote Sugar Refinery, United bank for Africa (UBA), FBN Holdings (FBNH) and Skyway Aviation Handling Company.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limite said: “This week, we expect a mixed performance in the domestic equities market, to be driven by a risk-off sentiment and bargain hunting activities.”

United Capital Plc stated that “This week, seeing as the market closed up only on Friday in the previous week, we could see the market rebound, as investors dive into stocks with strong fundamentals and attractive dividend yields, given the current depressed prices. However, negative developments in the oil price war or coronavirus could spark further selloffs in local equities.”

Also, Vetiva Securities Limited said: “ With the continuous spread of the Covid-19 across the world as well as the fast declining crude oil prices, we expect the Nigerian equities market to remain pressured in the short term despite the attractiveness of some fundamentally sound stocks. “

However market breadth closed positive, with 18 gainers versus 14 losers. Courteville Business Solutions, Lasaco Assurance, Niger Insurance, United Capital, Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) and University Press recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent, each to close at 22 kobo, 22 kobo, 22 kobo, N2.20, N6.60 and 99 kobo per share, respectively.

Julius Berger followed with a gain of 9.65 per cent to close at N22.15, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) appreciated by 9.59 per cent to close at N2.40, per share.

On the other hand, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, to close at 63 kobo, per share. Skyway Aviation Handling Company followed with a decline of 9.73 per cent to close at N2.32, while Jaiz Bank declined by 9.30 per cent to close at 39 kobo, per share.

FBNH depreciated by 7.50 per cent to close at N3.70 and Wapic Insurance declined by 7.41 per cent to close at 25 kobo, per share. Total volume traded depreciated by 24.7 per cent to 551.48 million shares, worth N5.76 billion, and traded in 6,981 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank topped the activity chart with 137.23 million shares valued at N2.61 billion.

FBNH followed with 135.30 million shares worth N518.25 million, while Zenith Bank traded 133.17 million shares valued at N1.65 billion. Access Bank traded 25.23 million shares valued at N194.18 million, while UBA sold 22.81 million shares worth N114.91 million.