NSE LIVE! High-cap stocks keep equities low

Nigerian equities showed stronger underlying trend on Tuesday but losses suffered by many highly capitalised stocks dragged the overall market position further into the negative. The benchmark index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated average decline of 0.26 per cent, equivalent to a loss of N24 billion on Tuesday.

While there were 24 losers against 17 gainers, losses recorded by high-cap stocks in the breweries, banking and the fast moving consumer goods sector pushed the market again into the red. The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based index that serves as main gauge for the NSE dropped from 27,103.38 points to close at 27,034.05 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities dropped by N24 billion from N9.309 trillion to close at N9.285 trillion.

With this, average year-to-date return worsened to -5.61 per cent. The depression at the stock market was however orchestrated with the announcement by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that inflation rate jumped to 15.58 per cent in May as against 13.72 per cent in April, ahead of analysts’ consensus of 14.7 per cent.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities lose N44b in opening trades

Nigerian Breweries, the second most capitalised stock at the NSE, recorded the highest loss of N3.03 to close at N128. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria followed with a loss of N1.77 to close at N16.44. Cadbury Nigeria dropped by 65 kobo to close at N17.35. Guaranty Trust Bank dipped by 50 kobo to close at N18.51. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated declined by 35 kobo to close at N17.20 while UAC of Nigeria lost 29 kobo to close at N19.50.

“We expect market performance to stay restrained owing to weak data releases while investors continue to await foreign exchange policy. We believe equities investment in the current recessionary period requires a long term perspective despite seeming cheap valuation,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Total turnover stood at 170.68 million shares valued at N2.42 billion in 3,153 deals. The three most active stocks were Guaranty Trust Bank, with 33.55 million shares; FCMB Group, with 18.42 million shares and NEM Insurance, which recorded a turnover of 14.67 million shares.

On the upside, Total Nigeria recorded the highest gain of N5.37 to close at N179. Lafarge Africa rose by N2.38 to close at N78.88. Stanbic IBTC Holdings added 70 kobo to close at N15.89. Union Dicon Salt rose by 62 kobo to close at N15 while International Breweries gathered 40 kobo to close at N19.90 per share.

 

 

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