Stock market reopens bearish as index drops by 0.14 per cent

Trading on the equity sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) reopened on a downturn yesterday, as more highly capitalised stocks depreciated in price, causing the All-share index to dip further by 0.14 per cent.

At the close of transactions yesterday, the All Share Index (ASI) shed 42.09 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.14 per cent to close at 29,809.20 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N19 billion to close at N13.136 trillion.

Yesterday’s performance was influenced by price depreciation in medium and large capitalised stocks, among which are: Nigerian Breweries, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), Ecobank Transnational Inc (ETI), Dangote Sugar Refinery and Access Bank.

On the market’s performance, analysts at APT Securities and Funds Limited said: “We retain our cautious trading advice in the short run. However, accumulation of fundamentally justified and dividend paying stocks for mid to long term is recommended.”

Also, analysts at United Capital Plc expected the current apathy to persist this week but, however, added that they expect portfolio manager to take some adjustment to rebalance their portfolios as second quarter of 2019 closes by the end of the week, while positioning for interim dividend in third quarter.

Market breadth was positive with 24 gainers against 19 losers. Champion Breweries recorded the highest price gain of 9.86 per cent, to close at N1.56, per share. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria followed with a gain of 9.63 per cent, to close at N10.25, while Prestige Assurance rose by 9.26 per cent to close at 59 kobo, per share.

LASACO Assurance rose by 6.90 per cent to close at 21 kobo, while Mutual Benefits Assurance and Thomas Wyatt Nigeria gained five per cent each to close at 21 kobo and 42 kobo, per share, respectively. On the other hand, CCNN and NEM Insurance led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, each to close at N12.15 and N2.52, respectively, while ETI followed with a decline 9.69 per cent to close at N10.25, per share.

NPF Micro Finance Bank declined by 7.69 per cent to close at N1.20, while Dangote Sugar down by 7.66 per cent, to close at N11.45, per share.

The total volume traded went up by 214.18 per cent to 573.67 million units, valued at N10.213 billion, and exchanged in 4,076 deals. Zenith Bank traded 355.21 million shares valued at N7.10 billion. Access Bank followed with 35.73 million shares worth N240.83 million, while Lafarge Africa traded 32.50 million shares valued at N388.93 million.

Guaranty Trust traded 25.81 million shares valued at N802.1 million, while Lasaco Assurance transacted 14.97 million shares worth N4.63 million.