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Equities Market sheds N62bn as bears regain control

By on June 5, 2015

The Nigerian equities market shed N62.07 billion Wednesday as the  bears returned after a day’s break. The market had appreciated by 0.05 per cent on Tuesday following increased demand for shares by some investors.

However, the  positive momentum could not be sustained yesterday as the market capitalisation went down by N62.07 billion to close at N11.51 trillion, while Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index declined by 0.54 per cent to close at 33,879.21. The decline brought the year-to-date loss to 2.24 per cent as at yesterday. The negative performance was sell-offs across the oil/gas and banking stocks as investors embarked on profit taking.

A total of 36 stocks appreciated compared to 19 stocks that depreciated. National Salt Company of Nigeria Plc led the laggards with a decline of 5.9 per cent  followed by Forte Oil Plc with 4.9 per cent, just as RT Briscoe Nigeria Plc, Jos International Breweries Plc and Skye Bank Plc shed 4.8 per cent, 4.6 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively.

On the positive side, Beta Glass Plc led the price gainers with 4.9 per cent, trailed by Portland Paints  and Products Nigeria Plc with 4.45 per cent. The Chairman of Portland Paints, Mr. Larry Ettah, last week told shareholders  that the company was being repositioned for improved performance into the future.

“We are realigning our portfolio and making strategic shifts where necessary. We will continue to focus on innovation and seek opportunities to introduce new offerings into our portfolio of brands as well as build capacity in our people,” he said.

Meanwhile, three of the five NSE Sectoral indices appreciated. The  NSE Insurance Index gained the most, rising by 0.90 per cent. The NSE Consumer and Industrial Goods indices followed with  gains of 0.32 per cent  and 0.13 per cent in that order.

Conversely, the  NSE Oil/Gas index recorded a decline of  2.46 per cent just as the NSE  Banking Index also went down by 1.58 per cent.

Commenting on the market performance, analysts at Meristem Securities Limited said, “We believe that today’s trading outcome was as expected, featuring more profit taking activities over position taking. This emphasizes our opinion that investors’ remain wary, given the lack of clear direction towards investment related policies by the new administration. Also, we expect the negative momentum to persist for the rest of the week.”

 

[ThisDay]