NSE LIVE: High-cap stocks drag equities to N13bn loss

Nigerian equities traded on a tight balance of profit-taking and bargain-hunting on Thursday but the decline in the share prices of Nigeria’s two most capitalised quoted companies-Dangote Cementand Nigerian Breweries, dragged the overall market position to a loss of N13 billion.

After two consecutive positive trading sessions, investors turned to profit-taking on many large-cap stocks including Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries, Zenith Bank, Dangote Sugar Refinery and United Bank for Africa.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the benchmark index that tracks share prices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) declined by 0.24 per cent to close at 37,051.54 points as against its opening index of 37,138.97 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also dropped from its opening value of N12.854 trillion to close at N12.823 trillion. The decline pressured the average year-to-date return to 37.87 per cent.

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With 21 advancers to 22 decliners, most sectoral indices still closed positive, underlining the widespread positive sentiment across many sectors. The NSE Oil & Gas Index rose by 1.2 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 0.3 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index inched up by 0.1 per cent. However, the NSE Banking Index dropped by 0.3 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index declined by 0.5 per cent.

Dangote Cement-the most capitalised quoted company, led the decliners with a drop of N1.99 to close at N229.01. Nigerian Breweries followed with a loss of 89 kobo to close at N143. Nascon Allied Industries declined by 63 kobo to close at N15.35. Zenith Bank lost 48 kobo to close at N25.10 while Dangote Sugar Refinery declined by 21 kobo to close at N15.25 per share.

On the positive side, Mobil Oil Nigeria led the advancers with a gain of N11.99 to close at N165. International Breweries followed with a gain of N3.79 to close at N48.99. Forte Oil and Presco chalked up N2 each to close at N42 and N66 respectively. Seven-Up Bottling Company rose by 60 kobo to close at N88 while Cadbury Nigeria chalked up 45 kobo to close at N11.20 per share.

Total turnover stood at 175.75 million shares valued at N3.52 billion in 3,357 deals. Banking stocks were the most active stocks.. Guaranty Trust Bank was the most active stock with 34.18 million shares valued at N1.44 billion. Fidelity Bank followed with 28.99 million shares worth N48.12 million while FBN Holdings ranked third with 19.87 million shares valued at N141.79 million.

“ While we attribute today’s performance to profit taking in DANGCEM, the relatively unchanged market breadth suggests investors are still sourcing for bargains. Accordingly, we expect a positive close for the week.

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