Okomu Oil Palm Leads Price Losers as Market Opens Negatively

Okomu Oil Palm Plc led the price losers at the stock market yesterday as trading resumed for the week on a bearish note. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) AllShare Index fell by 0.81 per cent to close at 35,664.94 as 23 stocks depreciated, while 20 appreciated.

Okomu Oil Palm led, shed- ding 4.92 per cent, trailed by McNichols Consolidated with 4.5 per cent, while Livestock Feeds Plc went down by 4.4 per cent. Jaiz Bank Plc and Berger Paints Nigeria Plc depreciated by 4.4per cent and 4.2 per cent in that order. Learn Africa Plc closed 3.9 per cent lower.

Although the above stocks recorded higher decline, analysts at Meristem Securities Limited said the depreciation in the index stemmed from sell-offs in bellwether stocks such as Dangote Cement Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

“We opine that the market performance was largely driven by sell-offs on market heavyweights such as Dangote, Nestle and GTBank. Given the gains recorded by the cement leader last week, profit-taking activities were quite expected. We posit that the rest of the week will be characterized by mixed sentiments however we envisage that buy pressures will be more dominant,” they said.

However, on the positive side, Newrest ASL Nigeria Plc led the price gainers with 4.8 per cent, trailed by Transcorp Plc with 4.7 per cent. United Capital Plc added 4.7 per cent, while Oando Plc appreciated by 3.6 per cent.

Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited attributed the gain in Oando Plc share price “to positive sentiments which originated from the press release vindicating the company from allegations raised by the company’s shareholders.”

Oando Plc yesterday held its 40th annual general meeting (AGM) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State where the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wale Tinubu said: “As a reputable company, our approach is not to respond to every allegation in the media, allegations need to be delivered to the company in a particular format before we can respond. The petitioners requested a postponement of our AGM, but we provided the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with all the information required and we were cleared to hold the