Investors lose N31bn as equities market sustains losses

The domestic equities market on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) continued its bearish run on Wednesday as the benchmark index lost by 0.22 per cent, following profit taking on high capitalised stocks.

The All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 58.72 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.22 per cent to close at 26,974.38 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation size declined by N31 billion to close at N14.052 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; MTN Nigeria, Vitafoam Nigeria, Red Star Express, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) and University Press.
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Market breadth closed negative, with 11 gainers versus 16 losers. Honeywell Flour Mill recorded the highest price gain of 9.38 per cent, to close at N1.05, per share. FCMB Groups followed with a gain 6.29 per cent to close at N1.86, while EkoCorp Plc rose by 5.77 per cent to close N5.50, per share.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) went up by 4.38 per cent to close at N7.15, while Lasaco Assurance rose by 4.17 per cent to close at 25 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Red Star Express and Vitafoam Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 9.98 per cent each, to close at N3.61 and N4.06, while University Press followed with a decline of 9.60 per cent to close at N1.13, per share.

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Consolidated Hallmark Insurance went down by 9.38 to close at 29 kobo, while Jaiz Bank shed 8.62 per cent to close at 53 kobo, per share.

The total volume of trades decreased by 5.52 per cent to 228.38 million units, valued at N2.74 billion and exchanged in 3,831 deals. Transactions in the shares of UBA topped the activity chart with 81.12 million shares valued at N548.899 million. Zenith Bank followed with 31.009 million shares worth N590.32 million, while Access Bank traded 22.34 million shares valued at N201.05 million.

Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 12.46 million shares valued at N11.24 million, while United Capital transacted 11.45 million shares worth N37.92 million.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited, however, anticipate a bearish outing tomorrow, despite opportunities for bargain hunting and dividend gain.

Also, analysts at Imperial Asset Manager Limited expected the market to maintain the prevailing trend in the next session amid safety precaution.