Stock market reverses gains as index drops by 0.59%

THE Nigerian Stock Exchange ( NSE) has reversed positive sentiment to close on a downturn yesterday as the shares of Nestle Nigeria and 25 others decline, leading to a fall of the AllShare Index ( ASI) by 0.59 per cent.

At the close of trading, ASI contracted by 234.01 absolute points, representing a decrease of 0.59 per cent to close at 39,697.62 points while the overall market capitalisation value lost N122 billion to close at N20.77 trillion.

The downturn was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks including Nestle Nigeria, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Ardova Plc, Lafarge Africa and Unilever Nigeria.

Analysts at Vetiva Dealing & Brokerage

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative, as 26 stocks declined relative to 18 gainers. Academy Press recorded the highest price gain of 9.76 per cent to close at 45 kobo, while PZ Cussons Nigeria followed with a gain 9.38 per cent to close at N5.25 kobo.

Royal Exchange and Beta Glass Company went up by eight per cent each, to close at 27 kobo and N54, while Regency Alliance Insurance rose by 7.69 per cent to 28 kobo.

On the other hand, Mutual Benefits Assurance led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at 36 kobo, per share. Ardova followed with a decline of 9.97 per cent to close at N16.25 while Champion Breweries shed by 9.69 per cent to close at N2.05 kobo.

The Initiates lost 9.62 per cent to close at 47 kobo while Sterling Bank shed 8.75 per cent to close at N1.46 kobo. Meanwhile, the total volume of trades decreased by 59.1 per cent to 222.574 million units, valued at N5.390 billion, and exchanged in 4,470 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 48.102 million shares valued at N1.236 billion. United Capital followed with 20.238 million shares worth N121.971 million, while Mutual Benefits Assurance traded 19.443 million shares valued at N7.224 million.