Stocks Fall 0.06% as Trial of Nigeria’s Chief Judge Resumes

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading day of this week on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) started off on a wrong foot on Monday as the market suffered 0.06 percent loss.

This was as a result of profit-taking activities witnessed at the market in the absence of any positive news to trigger buying interest.

The declined recorded by the local bourse coincided with the resumption of the trial of the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mr Walter Onnonghen, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) yesterday.

At the trial, Mr Onnonghen accused the federal government of tampering with his asset declaration form. The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration charged the chief judge for allegedly failing to disclose his assets as prescribed by law.

Back to the market, insurance stocks recorded the major losses with its index going down by 1.82 percent, while the banking shares followed with 0.23 percent decline.

The losses posted by these two sectors overshadowed the slight gains reported by the industrial and consumer goods sectors, which rose by 0.03 percent and 0.11 percent respectively.

The oil and gas index closed flat on Monday.

Topping the losers’ table yesterday were Ikeja Hotels and Cutix, which went down by 20 kobo each to close at N1.87k and N2.05k per unit respectively.

Both Union Bank and NEM Insurance fell by 15 kobo each to settle at N6.85k and N2.35k per share apiece, while Dangote Cement lost 10 kobo to end at N189.90k per share.

At the other end, Dangote Flour put up a good performance on Monday, resulting in the 75 kobo it gained to close at N10.95k per share.

UBA and Lafarge Africa appreciated by 10 kobo each to finish at N7.55k and N12.95k per unit, while Caverton appreciated by 0.08 percent to end at N2.25k per share, with United Capital rising by 5 kobo to settle at N2.85k per unit.

At the close of business on Monday, the market printed a total of 20 price losers as against 11 price gainers.

For the major market indices, the All-Share Index (ASI) slipped by 17.33 points to settle at 31,125.39 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N7 billion to close at N11.607 trillion.

On the activity chart, the volume and value of shares traded by investors depreciated by 1.86 percent and 42.16 percent respectively.

A total of 205.7 million equities worth N1.9 billion were transacted in 3,821 deals on Monday in contrast to the 209.6 million shares worth N3.3 billion exchanged in 3,022 deals last Friday.

Access Bank shares dominated the table with a turnover of 56 million units worth N328.4 million.

It was trailed by Zenith Bank, which sold 27.6 million units valued at N603.7 million, and UBA, which exchanged 22.6 million shares for N170.7 million.

FCMB traded 13.7 million equities for N24.7 million, while GTBank sold 12.7 million share for N446.4 million.