NSE LIVE! Equities lose N135bn in opening trades

Nigerian equities reopened on Monday with a tinge of profit-taking as investors sought to monetise capital gains after quoted equities surged to a high of N16 trillion at the weekend.

Most indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed in the red as investors opened up sell orders to attract bids.

Benchmark indices at the stock market indicated average day-on-day decline of 0.85 per cent, representing net capital gain of N135 billion. This moderated the average year-to-date return to 15.74 per cent.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the Exchange declined from its opening value of N16.019 trillion to close at N15.884 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks share prices at the NSE also dropped from its opening index of 44,639.99 points to close at 44,261.72 points.

With more decliners than advancers, most sectoral indices followed the overall negative performance, partly reflecting losses by large-cap stocks. The NSE Industrial Goods Index recorded above-average drop of 1.3 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index dropped by 1.3 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index depreciated by 0.7 per cent. On the positive side, the NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 1.6 per cent while the NSE Banking Index rose by 1.4 per cent.

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There were 34 decliners against 22 advancers. Dangote Cement-the most capitalised company, led the decliners with a loss of N8 to close at N270. Forte Oil followed with a drop of N2.40 to close at N46.05. Julius Berger Nigeria dropped by N1.35 to close at N28.65. Lafarge Africa lost N1 to close at N53. Cadbury Nigeria and Nascon Allied Industries dropped by 50 kobo each to close at N15.50 and N21 respectively. United Bank for Africa lost 40 kobo to close at N12.35 while Berger Paints declined by 30 kobo to close at N9.65 per share.

On the upside, Bet Glass led the advancers with a gain of N3.10 to close at N65.45. Zenith Bank followed with a gain of 70 kobo to close at N32.65. PZ Cussons Nigeria added 55 kobo to close at N23.65. Nigerian Breweries rose by 50 kobo to close at N145. Dangote Sugar Refinery chalked up 35 kobo to close at N21 per share. Guaranty Trust Bank appreciated by 30 kobo to close at N49.30. Africa Prudential rose by 19 kobo to close at N4.94 while Flour Mills of Nigeria added 15 kobo to close at N34 per share.

Total turnover stood at 426.8 million shares valued at N2.8 billion. FCMB Group was the most active stock with a turnover of 101.5 million shares valued at N303.32 million. Skye Bank followed with a turnover of 48.34 million shares worth N66.37 million while Diamond Bank ranked third with a turnover of 31.54 million shares valued at N100.21 million.

“Despite the negative performance today, our near-term outlook on performance remains positive as investors continue to seek for bargain opportunities in anticipation of full year earnings releases,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

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