NSE LIVE! Equities in marginal decline amidst Q3 anxiety

Nigerian equities closed in the negative for the second consecutive trading session as investors continued their sell down in a momentary period before the main inflow of third quarter earnings. More than 70 per cent of compliant quoted companies are expected to submit their third quarter earnings within the next 12 days.

With nearly two decliners for every advancer, the benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated a marginal decline of 0.08 per cent, equivalent to net capital depreciation of N9 billion. The widespread sell sentiment was moderated by gains recorded by the trio of Nigerian Breweries, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities dropped from its opening value of N12.622 trillion to close at N12.613 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the main price index at the Exchange also slipped from its opening index of 36,669.61 points to close at 36,641.52 points. The average year-to-date return dipped marginally to 36.34 per cent.​

Most sectoral indices closed negative. The NSE Oil & Gas Index declined by 0.4 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index dropped by 0.3 per cent. The NSE Banking Index slipped by 0.2 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index and NSE Industrial Goods Index closed flat.

Total Nigeria led the decliners with a drop of N7.59 to close at N245.41. Flour Mills of Nigeria followed with a drop of 80 kobo to close at N29.20. Nascon Allied Industries lost 65 kobo to close at N13.20. Access Bank declined by 21 kobo to close at N9.50 while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company dropped by 20 kobo to close at N3.40 per share.

On the positive side, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria rose by N1.10 to close at N23.15. Presco followed with a gain of 50 kobo to close at N68.. Nigerian Breweries added 48 kobo to close at N162.50. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated rose by 38 kobo to close at N17.59 while Guinness Nigeria added 25 kobo to close at N101 per share.

Total turnover stood at 198.63 million shares valued at N2.94 billion in 3,543 deals. Guaranty Trust Bank, which reported its third quarter earnings on Wednesday, was the most active stock with 37.06 million shares valued at N1.54 billion. Sterling Bank followed with 26.89 million shares worth N26.89 million while Access Bank ranked third with 20.54 million shares worth N198.46 million.

“Despite consecutive negative closes, we envisage a rebound in market performance in subsequent sessions due to positive outlook on third quarter 2017 earnings results,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

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