NSE LIVE! Profit-taking shaves off N235bn from equities

After a whooping gain of N677 billion last week, investors on Monday turned round to take profits and monetise recent capital appreciation at the Nigerian stock market.

With a flood of sell orders, quoted equities came under intense pressure and several stocks went on offer, forcing most deals to close at lower prices.

Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated an average day-on-day decline of 2.41 per cent, equivalent to a net capital loss of N235 billion. All sectoral indices closed on the downside, underlining the widespread losses that marked the five-hour trading session at the Exchange. The decline on Monday reduced the average year-to-date return to 2.38 per cent.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based common index that tracks prices at the Exchange dropped from its opening index of 28,192.46 points to close at 27,513.69 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted companies declined from its opening value of N9.746 trillion to close at N9.511 trillion.

All sectoral indices declined as large-cap stocks stumbled on the back of increased sell orders. The NSE Oil & Gas Index dropped by 3.8 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index followed with a drop of 3.7 per cent. The NSE Banking Index dropped by 3.3 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index declined by 1.1 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index dipped by 1.0 per cent.

There were 42 decliners to nine advancers. Nestle Nigeria declined by N37 to close at N798. Seplat Petroleum Development Company followed with a drop of N20 to close at N380. Nigerian Brewerieslost N7.33 to close at N141.67. Forte Oil dropped by N2.52 to close at N47.89. Dangote Cement declined by N1.99 to close at N163.01. Zenith Bank lost N1.03 to close at N17.10. Guaranty Trust Bank dropped by 99 kobo to close at N29.01 per share. Flour Mills lost 93 kobo to close at N18.40. Oando declined by 83 kobo to close at N7.79 while Lafarge Africa lost 60 kobo to close at N47.50 per share.

“We expect a negative close at tomorrow (Tuesday)’s session as investors continue to book profit on recent gains,” SCM Capital Markets stated.

Turnover stood at 670.97 million shares valued at N7.91 billion in 4,034 deals. Zenith Bank was the most active stock with 225.35 million shares worth N4.26 billion. Access Bank followed with 173.34 million shares valued at N1.21 billion while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated ranked third with 77.5 million shares worth N748 million.

On the upside, Presco led with a gain of N2 to close at N49. Stanbic IBTC Holdings rose by 50 kobo to close at N26.50. UAC of Nigeria added 46 kobo to N15.60. United Capital inched up by 5.0 kobo to close at N2.99 per share. Cutix, Law Union and Rock Insurance and Ashaka Cement dropped by 4.0 kobo each to close at N2.04, 84 kobo and N11 respectively while Linkage Assurance and Caverton Offshore Support Group slipped by 2.0 kobo to close at 54 kobo and 94 kobo respectively.

“As noted last week, market performance has been dragged by profit taking and we expect this trend to be sustained in trading sessions ahead,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

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