The bears upstaged the bulls at the end of yesterday’s transactions on the equities sector of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), causing the All Share Index (ASI) to depreciate by 0.13 percent.
ASI fell by 34.74 points or 0.13 percent to 26,660.44 points, causing investors to lose N16 billion in value as market capitalisation fell to N12.868 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which were; Dangote Cement, NASCON Allied Industries, International Breweries, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust (UPDCREIT), and Lafarge Africa. Analysts at Afrinvest Limited, said: “We do not expect a sustainable rebound in the equities market in the near term, as investor sentiment towards equities remain sour.”
The Chief Research Officer of Investdata Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omodion, said: “We expect a sustained mixed performance amidst profit-taking, as investors take advantage of low prices to position, ahead of the usual Santa Claus and year-end rally, as capital flow and repositioning in value stocks continue.
“There is also the changing sentiment in the expectation of improved liquidity and positive economic indices. Again, the current undervalued state of the market offers investors opportunities to position for short and medium-to-long-term horizons.“We expect that investors would target fundamentally-sound and dividend-paying stocks for possible capital appreciation as the year draws down to usher in 2020.”
However, market breadth closed positive, with 17 gainers versus 12 losers. Chams recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at 33 kobo per share.
Guinness Nigeria followed with 9.88 percent to close at N35.60, while AG Leventis & Company added 9.52 per cent to close at 46 kobo, per share.
Presco rose 9.20 per cent to close at N47.50, and Wema Bank 8.82 percent to close at 74 kobo, per share.On the other hand, UPDCREIT led the losers’ chart with 8.99 percent to close at N4.05 per share. Unity Bank followed with 7.14 percent to close at 65 kobo.
Cornerstone Insurance fell 6.67 to close at 56 kobo, per share.
International Breweries lost 5.94 percent to close at N9.50, while NASCON Allied Industries shed 5.36 percent to close at N13.25, per share.The total volume traded rose by 94.64 percent to 331.92 million shares worth N4.78 billion, traded in 3,358 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with 106.86 million shares valued at N1.07 billion.
Guaranty Trust Bank followed with 50.12 million shares worth N1.48 billion, while Zenith Bank traded 46.64 million shares valued at N873.56 million. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 24.08 million shares at N23.53 million, while FCMB Groups transacted 20.55 million shares worth N37.597 million.
