Economy
Stock Market Loses N136bn to ‘Ruthless’ Profit-Takers
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Activities of profit takers on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday further left local equities bleeding by 1.22 percent. Some investors were ruthless during the trading session, which was the last for the month of April 2019.
Even news of the eventual passage of the 2019 budget by the Senate yesterday could not pacify investors as they were bent on taking profit before re-investing on fundamentally sound stocks presently selling at low prices.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of NSE decreased by N136 billion to finish at N10.959 trillion against N11.095 trillion of the previous day.
Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI), the barometer of the market’s performance, depreciated by 361.32 points to settle at 29,159.74 points.
Despite the market closing south on Tuesday, the level of activities significantly improved with the volume and value of equities traded rising by 87.44 percent and 278.78 percent respectively.
A total of 543.9 million shares valued at N8.2 billion were traded on Tuesday in contrast to the 290.2 million units worth N2.2 billion transacted on Monday.
A closer look at the activity chart indicated that the growth in yesterday’s transactions was buoyed by the huge volume of sales in the shares of CCNN, accounting for 132.3 million units worth N1.9 billion.
FBN Holdings traded 68.8 million shares valued at N497.3 million, while Unilever Nigeria exchanged 50.5 million equities for N1.6 billion.
GTBank sold 41.4 million shares for N1.4 billion, while Dangote Flour exchanged 37.9 million shares for N712.1 million.
Business Post reports that the price movement chart showed that Nestle Nigeria led the losers’ log, depreciating by N30 to close at N1520 per share.
Dangote Cement lost N6 yesterday to settle at N180 per unit, while Stanbic IBTC declined by N1.70k to finish at N43.40k per share.
CCNN lost N1.35k of its share value to end at N14 per unit, while NASCON dropped 90 kobo to close at N18.10k per share.
On the flip side, Seplat emerged as the day’s highest price gainer, appreciating by N7 to settle at N575 per share.
Forte Oil gained N3.20k to finish at N35.30k per share, while Julius Berger appreciated by N2.25k to end at N26.95k per share.
Mobil Oil Nigeria rose by N2 to settle at N177 per share, while Dangote Flour sustained its recent price appreciation by an additional N1.70k to close at N18.80k per share.
Business Post reports that the market closed today to observe the Workers’ Day holiday. Normal activities will resume tomorrow.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the red territory for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, August 11, declining by 1.81 per cent.
This pulled back the market capitalisation by N8.94 billion to N2.748 trillion from N2.798 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 84.44 points to 4,578.74 points from 4,663.18 points.
The market breadth index was at equilibrium yesterday, as there were four price gainers and four price losers.
On the red side, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc depreciated by N12.86 to N116.88 per share from N129.74 per share, Afriland Properties Plc declined by N1.95 per cent to N22.00 per unit from N23.95 per unit, Food Concepts Plc weakened by 25 Kobo to N2.50 per share from N2.75 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc lost 22 Kobo to sell at N2.05 per unit versus Monday’s N2.27 per unit.
On the green side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N11.50 to finish at N156.50 per share compared with the previous day’s N145.00 per share, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc expanded by N2.11 to N23.36 per unit from N21.15 per unit, NASD Plc advanced by N1.90 to N36.00 per share from N34.10 per share, and Nipco Plc surged by 50 Kobo to N457.00 per unit from N456.50 per unit.
During the session, the volume of securities rose by 31.2 per cent to 1.5 million units from 1.1 million units, the value of securities improved by 315.9 per cent to N42.3 million from N10.2 million, and the number of deals skyrocketed by 45.7 per cent to 51 deals from Monday’s 35 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended as the most active stock by value (year-to-date), with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 77.0 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc also closed as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date), with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited tumbled by 0.73 per cent on Tuesday on the back of profit-taking by investors.
The consumer goods counter shed 0.96 per cent, and the banking space crashed by 0.46 per cent due to selling pressure. But the insurance index gained 0.24 per cent, and the energy segment improved by 0.03 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
When the bourse closed for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) gave up 1,806.18 points to 246,723.57 points from 248,529.75 points, and the market capitalisation depreciated by N1.166 trillion to N159.256 trillion from N160.422 trillion.
Thomas Wyatt lost 9.97 per cent to quote at N2.89, AVA Capital declined by 9.60 per cent to N8.95, International Energy Insurance dipped by 6.32 per cent to N4.00, International Breweries dropped 5.98 per cent to close at N11.00, and Guinea Insurance shed 5.13 per cent to 74 Kobo.
On the flip side, UPDC REIT gained 10.00 per cent to end at N14.85, FTN Cocoa appreciated by 9.88 per cent to N8.90, C&I Leasing surged by 8.26 per cent to N5.90, Sovereign Trust Insurance went up by 6.74 per cent to N1.90, and Regency Alliance climbed 6.33 per cent to 84 Kobo.
Yesterday, Fortis Global Insurance was the busiest equity, leading the activity chart with a turnover of 3.3 billion units worth N9.6 billion. Trans-Nationwide Express transacted 84.6 million units for N181.9 million, Access Holdings sold 66.1 million units valued at N1.9 billion, Consolidated Hallmark exchanged 54.3 million units worth N379.4 million, and Fidelity Bank traded 46.9 million units for N1.0 billion.
Investors bought and sold 3.9 billion units worth N32.4 billion in 45,608 deals compared with the 1.1 billion units valued at N27.0 billion traded in 59,185 deals a day earlier. This indicated that the number of deals retreated by 22.94 per cent, the trading volume increased by 254.55 per cent, and the trading value soared by 20.00 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened against the United States Dollar by N4.75 or 0.35 per cent to N1,364.89/$1 from N1,360.14/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, August 11.
In the same vein, the domestic currency slumped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N4.11 to trade at N1,842.61 compared with the previous day’s N1,838.50/£1, and against the Euro, it lost N4.41 to sell at N1,575.50/€1 versus Monday’s N1,571.09/€1.
But it was a different scenario at the GTBank FX desk, where the Naira gained N4 against the US Dollar yesterday to close at N1,367/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s N1,371/$1, and appreciated by N5 in the parallel market to quote at N1,395/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,400/$1.
Interbank FX turnover, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), fell sharply by 86 per cent to $29.1 million, down more than 86 per cent from $213.9 million a day earlier, with the number of settled interbank deals down to 47 from 182.
The decline in Dollar trading was attributed to weaker bank bids from customers seeking foreign exchange payments, while tight market liquidity continued to weigh on the Naira.
Nigeria’s gross external reserves rose by $83.81 million to $52.14 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market rebounded, with Dogecoin (DOGE) going up by 2.8 per cent to $0.0721 and taking its weekly gain to over 3 per cent, while Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 0.3 per cent to $63,769.69.
Investors are focused on Thursday’s US Consumer Price Index (CPI) report and Middle East tensions, as lower inflation and a potential Fed pivot could fuel a relief rally in risk assets even as rising oil prices threaten to push inflation higher.
Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 2.2 per cent to $612.49, TRON (TRX) rose by 1.1 per cent to $0.3350, Ripple (XRP) increased by 0.9 per cent to $1.02, Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.8 per cent to $1,889.60, and Solana (SOL) jumped by 0.5 per cent to $76.24, while Cardano (ADA) lost 0.6 per cent to end at $0.1867, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) flat at $1.00 apiece.
