Bearish run pushes market index down by N15 billion

The reign of bears sustained on the equities sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as more bluechip stocks joined the league of the losers, resulting to a further slide in market capitalisation by N15 billion.

Yesterday, the NSE-ASI fell by 30.18 points or 0.11 per cent to 27,052.93 points. Accordingly, investors lost N15 billion in value as market capitalisation declined to N13.183 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which were; Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Unilever Nigeria, Dangote Cement, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), and Custodian Investment.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited, said: “In the absence of any major stimulus, we expect the extant negative performance to conclude the week. Nonetheless, we see opportunities for bargain hunting in stocks with sound fundamentals.”

Market breadth was negative, with nine gainers versus 23 losers. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), recorded the highest price gain of 9.43 per cent to close at N14.50 per share. Unity Bank followed with 7.81 per cent to close at 69 kobo, while Livestock Feeds gained 7.32 per cent to close at 44 kobo, per share.

Jaiz Bank rose 5.41 per cent to close at 39 kobo, while MTN Nigeria (MTNN) added 4.45 per cent to close at N135, per share.
On the other hand, ETI and Unilever Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each to close at N6.30 and N28.80, respectively, while Red Star Express followed with 9.98 per cent to close at N4.24, per share.

Stanbic IBTC Holdings fell 9.97 per cent to close at N34.30, and Custodian Investment shed 9.68 per cent to close at N5.40, per share.

Total volume traded also shed 0.81 per cent to 233.2 million shares worth N3.64 billion, traded in 4,331 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank topped the activity chart with 42.5 million shares valued at N1.099 billion. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) followed with 37.87 million shares worth N33.12 million, while Access Bank traded 22.11 million shares at N130.09 million.

Fidelity Bank traded 19.38 million shares valued at N28.17 million, while Zenith Bank sold 18.33 million shares worth N298.56 million.