Stock market resumes November trading with N32 billion loss

The equities market resumed trading for the month of November on a downturn note yesterday, as market capitalisation declined by N32 billion, following profit taking by investors.

Market activities were dominated by profit taking embarked upon by investors to recoup their investment across all the major sectors, except insurance and industrial sectors.

Specifically, the All-Share Index (ASI), which measures the performance of listed equities declined by 61.81 absolute points, representing a decrease of 0.15 per cent, to close at 41,976.79 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation depreciated by N32 billion to close at N21.906 trillion.

The negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Eterna, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Nigerian Breweries, Oando and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI).

Analysts at United Capital Plc stated: “Looking ahead, we expect sustained bullish performance this week in reaction to the strong earnings turnout and sustained domestic interest in the equity market.”

Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “We expect the market to trade mixed tomorrow given the profit taking activities seen today, while general market sentiment is still largely driven by corporate earnings and disclosures.”

Also, market breadth closed negative, recording 32 losers and 20 gainers. Eterna led the losers’ chart by 9.94 per cent to close at N7.79 kobo. UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) followed with a decline of 9.44 per cent to close at N1.63 kobo while Courteville Business Solutions lost 9.09 per cent to close at 40 kobo.

On the other hand, Fidson Healthcare and Guinness Nigeria recorded the highest price gain of 9.92 per cent each to close at N6.76 kobo and N39.90 kobo, while Sovereign Trust Insurance followed with a gain 9.09 per cent to close at 24 kobo.

AIICO Insurance went up by 8.87 per cent to close at N1.35 kobo while Regency Alliance Insurance appreciated by 8.11 per cent to close at 40 kobo. Oando shed 7.92 per cent to close at N4.65, while Honeywell Flour Mills also depreciated by 7.78 per cent to close at N3.32 kobo.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded declined by 66.55 per cent to 378.151 million shares, worth N3.244 billion, and traded in 6,384 deals. Transactions in the shares of Mutual Benefits Assurance topped the activity chart with 52.445 million shares valued at N13.705 million.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with 29.278 million shares worth N250.854 million, while FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 27.545 million shares valued at N299.816 million.

AIICO Insurance traded 26.970 million shares valued at N35.812 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) transacted 26.180 million shares worth N27.435 million.