Twenty four hours after the Nigerian equities market gained N1.379 trillion following the listing of Airtel Africa Plc on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), sentiment turned negative on Wednesday July 10, 2019 with a decline of 0.21 percent.
This was particularly as a result of sell pressures on high capitalized stocks.
The All Share Index (ASI) fell by 61.42 points or 0.21 percent to 29,256.60 points. Accordingly, investors lost N30 billion in value as market capitalization declined to N14.258 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Airtel Africa, Forte Oil, Conoil, Dangote Cement and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO).
Analysts at Afrinvest Limited stated that “Barring any catalyst to spur investors’ appetite, we expect the bearish performance to persist in the near team.”
Also, analysts at Cordros Capital said that “Our outlook for equities in the short to medium term remains conservative, amidst the absence of any catalyst of market returns.”
Market breadth closed negative, with 15 gainers versus 17 losers. NPF Micro Finance Bank recorded the highest price gain of 9.71 per cent, to close at N1.13, per share. Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) followed with a gain 9.49 per cent to close at N7.50, while Sovereign Trust Insurance appreciated by five per cent to close at 21 kobo, per share.
Ikeja Hotel went up by 4.90 per cent to close at N1.50, while Courteville Business Solutions appreciated by 4.76 percent to close at 22 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Forte Oil led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, to close at N20.70, per share. Airtel Africa followed with a decline of 9.99 per cent to close at N357.40, while Conoil went down by 9.93 to close at N19.95, per share. Linkage Assurance by 9.86 per cent to close at 64 kobo, while NAHCO shed 9.83 per cent to close at N2.66 per share.
The total volume traded declined by 35.93 per cent to 188.77 million shares, worth N3.72 billion, and traded in 3,363 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 45.13 million shares valued at N866.54 million. Morison Industries followed with 20.95 million shares worth N11.55 million, while FBN Holdings traded 19.47 million shares valued at N119.83 million. Guaranty Trust Bank traded 14.17 million shares valued at N404.46 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) transacted 11.47 million shares worth N11.72 million.
