Market index falls further on sustained sell-offs

Following sell-offs in highly capitalised stocks, the Nigerian stock market sustained sliding profile at the end of yesterday’s transactions, causing the All-Share Index (ASI) to slump further by 0.4 per cent. Losing 102.31 points to 27,718.26 points.

Consequently, investors lost N50 billion in value as market capitalisation declined to N13.508 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which were Nestle Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Berger Paints Nigeria and Conoil.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “We expect the bearish performance to be sustained till the close of the week as investors’ sentiment towards equities remain weak.”

APT Securities and Funds Limited added: “Despite setback experienced at the close of yesterday’s trading session, we are of the opinion that the market is set for a rebound. We therefore, advise investors to accumulate fundamentally justified stocks at this time.”

Market breadth closed the same with 20 gainers and 20 losers. Julius Berger recorded the highest price gain of 9.87 per cent, to close at N20.60, per share. Forte Oil followed with a gain of 9.17 per cent to close at N19.65, while Mutual Benefits Assurance appreciated by 9.09 per cent to close at 24 kobo, per share.

Wapic Insurance went up by 7.69 per cent to close at 42 kobo, while Jaiz Bank appreciated by 7.14 per cent to close at 45 kobo, per share.

On the other hand, University Press led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, to close at N1.62, while Berger Paints followed with a decline of 9.52 per cent to close at N5.70 per share.

Dangote Sugar depreciated by 9.26 per cent to close at N9.80, while Eterna and Nigerian Breweries declined by 9.09 per cent each to close at N3 and N50, respectively, per share.

However, total volume traded appreciated by 62.31 per cent to 251.93 million shares, worth N4.13 billion, and traded in 3,937 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 39.14 million shares valued at N718.84 million.

FBN Holdings followed with 34.76 million shares worth N197.50 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 27.69 million shares valued at N163.69 million.

Guaranty Trust Bank traded 23.50 million shares valued at N667.64 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) sold 23.33 million shares worth N22.14 million.