Profit-taking in Nestle, NB, 24 Others Down Stock Market By N20bn

Kayode Tokede

The stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday halted its previous five consecutive day positive outing to close on a negative note for the first time in the year as the All-Share Index declined by 0.09 per cent.

The NGX All-Share Index declined by 37.83 per cent or 0.09 per cent, to close at 43,859.30 basis points, as the overall market capitalisation value lost N20 billion to close at N23.631 trillion.

Sector performances was mixed with the Consumer Goods (-4.76per cent) and Industrial (-0.27per cent) sectors closing southwards, while the Oil and Gas (+0.95per cent) and Banking (+1.41per cent) sector closed northwards.

The market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Nestle Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries (NB), Dangote Cement, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup) and Berger Paints Nigeria.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 26 stocks lost relative to 17 gainers. BUA Foods recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N64.35, per share. Eterna followed with a gain of 5.09 per cent to close at N5.57, while Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) rose by 4.63 per cent to close at N5.65, per share.

Wema Bank up by 3.57 per cent to close at 87 kobo, while Oando appreciated by 2.83 per cent to close at N4.73, per share.

On the other hand, Mutual Benefits Assurance led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at 27 kobo, per share. Berger Paints followed with a decline of 9.94 per cent to close at N7.70, while UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust lost 8.14 per cent to close at N3.95, per share.

Nestle Nigeria declined 7.81 per cent to close at N1,435.00, while Unity Bank shed 6.12 per cent to close at 46 kobo, per share.

The total volume of trades decreased by 5.4 per cent to 294.539 million units, valued at N6.768 billion, and exchanged in 4,501 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) topped the activity chart with 58.357 million shares valued at N57.360 million. BUA Foods followed with 51.526 million shares worth N3.316 billion, while FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 16.507 million shares valued at N197.304 million.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 14.050 million shares valued at N358.213 million, while Access Bank transacted 13.337 million shares worth N126.749 million.

According to analysts at InvestmentOne research: “The equities market closed negative today due to the losses printed in the Consumer Goods and Industrial sectors.

“Going forward, we expect investor’s sentiments to be swayed by the search for real positive returns and developments in the interest rate space. We reiterate that this may be a great period to pick up some quality names with a medium to long-term investment horizon.”