Bears Resurface at Nigerian Stock Exchange

By Dipo Olowookere

Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday ended on a negative note as some large cap stocks recorded price reduction.

The stock market had put a halt to the six consecutive losing streak yesterday, but profit taking by investors dragged the local bourse down with marginal loss of 0.01 percent.

Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated today by 3.58 points to settle at 37,988.54 points, while the market capitalisation declined by N1 billion to finish at N13.761 trillion.

The volume and value of transactions recorded at the NSE today broadly increased despite the loss.

At the close of trading activities, the volume of equities bought and sold rose by 160.20 percent, while the value of shares exchanged by investors went up by 37.58 percent.

As usual, the Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 474.1 million shares exchanged for N3.4 billion, while the Conglomerates sector followed with 28.7 million equities sold for N64 million.

In all, investors traded a total of 539.7 million shares worth N4.7 billion today compare with the 207.4 million units valued at N3.4 billion sold yesterday.

On the price losers’ chart on Tuesday, International Breweries claimed the top spot with N2.70k of its share value lost to settle at N41.30k per share.

It was followed by Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), which went down by N1.25k to finish at N24.70k, and Mobil Oil Nigeria, slacked by N1 to close at N182 per share

Zenith Bank depreciated by 45 kobo to close at N25.50k, while Africa Prudential Registrar reduced by 20 kobo to close at N3.85k per share.

On the flip side, it was a good day for Nestle Nigeria as its stock grew by N10 to close at N1,500 per share.

It was trailed by Presco, which increased by N1.50k to end at N75 per share, and Lafarge Africa, which appreciated by 95 kobo to settle at N39.05k per share.

Nigerian Breweries garnered 50 kobo to close at N110.50k per share, while Oando jumped by 30 kobo to close at N6.65 per share.

A breakdown of the activity chart indicates that Union Bank of Nigeria was the most active, trading 281.6 million shares worth N1.6 billion.

It was followed by Fidelity Bank with a turnover of 61.9 million shares valued at N142.4 million, while Transcorp accounted for 26.7 million shares worth N36.7 million.

FBN Holdings sold 24.4 million shares worth N262.4 million, while Zenith Bank traded 20.2 million shares valued at N518.5 million.