Local Stocks Remain Bearish After 0.35% Loss

By Dipo Olowookere

The bearish trend that resurfaced on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday was sustained on Thursday by a further 0.35 percent decline printed by the market.

Profit taking by investors ensured that the local equity market remained under pressure as Senate continued with the screening of ministerial nominees sent to the upper parliament for confirmation on Tuesday, when the market recorded a surge after days of losses.

The All-Share Index (ASI), which closed at 28,088.74 points on Wednesday, decreased by 98.13 points on Thursday to finish at 27,990.61 points.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation ended yesterday at N13.641 trillion against N13.689 trillion it closed the previous day, indicating a decline of N48 billion.

Dangote Cement topped the decliners’ chart on Thursday after shares of the company went down by N2 to finish at N171 per unit. MTN Nigeria followed with a decline of N2 to end at N125 per share, while Forte Oil lost 65 kobo to close at N17.50k per unit.

Global Spectrum Energy Services depreciated by 55 kobo to finish at N5.20k each, while Caverton went down by 23 kobo to settle at N2.34k per share.

On the flip side, Flour Mills emerged the highest price gainer after adding 85 kobo to its share value to finish at N14.85k per share.

Lafarge Africa gained 25 kobo to close at N14.40k per unit, while UAC Nigeria appreciated by 20 kobo to settle at N5.85k each. FCMB rose yesterday by 14 kobo to finish at N1.73k per unit, while NEM Insurance improved by 12 kobo to trade at N2.20k per share.

At the market on Thursday, financial stocks topped the activity chart with a total of 164.5 million shares sold for N1.1 billion, while equities in the ICT sector followed with 154.5 million units transacted for N458 million.

A further breakdown indicated that Courtville caught the attention of traders yesterday, closing with a turnover of 150 million shares worth N30 million.

FCMB exchange 73.3 million shares valued at N123.2 million, UBA sold 35.7 million equities for N200.6 million, Transcorp exchanged 11.7 million shares worth N11.9 million, while Zenith Bank traded 10.3 million equities valued at N190.3 million.

In the end, the volume of shares traded by investors on Thursday increased by 127.59 percent to 359.1 billion from 157.8 million recorded on Wednesday, while the value of the transactions yesterday went down by 25.09 percent to N1.9 billion from N2.5 billion in the previous session.