Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange today ended with the bears grip still on the market; equity prices continued on the southward sway to close in the four trading days in a row.
The All-Share Index which measures the performance of equities traded for the day shed weight very significantly as well as the market capitalisation which measures the worth of quoted equities on the bourse, it declined by N95.894 billion (US$640.574 million).
The transaction volume and value today further reflected the bearish outlook of the market as the figures of the market indices closed below their respective preceding figures, an indication of massive offers on the bourse.
The sell pressures which could be spotted in almost all the sectors of the market were much more prominent in the banking and some other blue chip stocks, as could be seen in the NSE-sectoral index chart. This has been the trend in the recent times.
The ongoing bearish trend remains because investors’ appetite for risk is very low, and this may be attributable to the fact that the certainty of what is going to happen cannot be fixed for now; suspense still remains.
The share price of Honeywell Flourmills Plc was today marked down for a dividend of 11k per share declared by the board of the company. The company’s stock price eventually closed at N0.53
Access Bank Plc announced its second quarter results for the period ended 30th June, 2010. The figures in the results revealed that while gross earnings in the period dipped by -19.47% to close at N49.408 billion, the bank profitability outlook inched up very significantly by+155.77% to close at N6.666 billion as against losses by N11.952 billion recorded in the preceding comparable period.
The bank announced 20k interim dividend with 3rd September and 14th September as closure and payment dates respectively. The stock price went up by +4.12% most probably on the back of the dividend declared.
In the same vein, Royal Exchange Plc today released its 2009 audited accounts for the period ended 31st December, 2009; according to the figures from the results, gross earnings reported marginal uptrend by +9.60% to close at N3.632 billion while the profitability outlook of the company improved very significantly by +106.57% to close at N160.070 million as against heavy losses by N2.435 billion recorded in the preceding year.
As usual, banking sector led the market transaction volume today with 115.437 million units valued at N909.02 million (US$5.864 million) exchanged in 3,387 deals. Transactions in the shares of First bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc,  boosted the volume traded in the sector. The total volume of 62.346 million units valued at N677.413 million traded in the shares of the five banks accounted for 54.01% of the entire sector volume and their value represented 74.52% of the sector’s value.
The number of gainers at the close of trading session closed at twenty (20) compared with sixteen (16) gainers recorded on Tuesday, decliners closed lower at Fifty (50) compared with fifty seven (57) losers recorded the previous trading day. The bearish market breath closed with 1:2.5.
At the close of trading session, the All-Share Index dropped by -1.60% to close at 24,111.51 compared with depreciation by -1.89% recorded on Tuesday to close at                 24,503.61. Market capitalisation also dropped by N95.893 billion (US$618.670 million) to close at N5.896 trillion (US$38.043 billion) compared with drop by N115.687 billion (US$746.373 million) recorded on Tuesday close at N5.992 trillion (US$38.662 billion).
The total transaction volume at the close of market session today dropped by -37.47% to close at 190.158 units exchanged in 6,763 deals as against volume growth by 21.99% recorded on Tuesday to close at 304.100 million units exchanged in 6,844 deals.
However, market value on the bourse dropped by -26.86% to close at N1.930 billion (US$12.456 million) compared with transaction value growth by 58.37% recorded on Tuesday to close at N2.639 billion (US$17.031 million).
SECTORAL REVIEW
The performance of stocks in the Agriculture sector records one loser and three unchanged prices compared with one gainer to two losers recorded yesterday just as the share price of Okomu Oil Pal Plc which had been the toast of investors in recent times remained unchanged while the share price of FTN Cocoa Processors Plc moved southward by shedding -3.28%.  The share prices of Presco Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc remained unchanged after today’s trading.
The share price of Nahco Aviance Plc further sheds weight today as it lost by -3.78% compared with decline by -4.98% recorded yesterday. The share price of Air Service Plc remained unchanged; a repeat of yesterday’s trading record.
The bears continue to dominate trading activities in the banking sector today as the sector records two (2) gainers to sixteen (16) losers compared with two (2) gainers to eighteen (18) losers recorded yesterday. Access Bank Plc led the gainers’ chart in the sector with +4.12% and closely followed by FinBank Plc with +4.00% gains while Zenith Bank Plc share led the losers’ chart in the sector with -4.98% price decline recorded.
The upbeat recorded in the share price of Access Bank Plc cannot be linked to the reward for investors announced today by the exchange; we expect an improvement in the share price of Access in the next few days as a result of the impressive result released today. Follow this link to view the result. (http://www.proshareng.com/news/singlenews.php?id=11850 )
The Breweries sector recorded two gainers and one unchanged price compared with one gainer to two losers recorded yesterday. International breweries Plc share price closed with +1.01% uptrend while Nigerian Breweries Plc gained + 0.01%.
The building materials sector recorded three losers and one unchanged price compared with three losers to one gainer recorded yesterday. The share of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria led the losers’ table with -4.96% while Ashaka Cement and BCC lost -2.45% and -2.36% respectively.
The conglomerates sector recorded one gainer to two losers compared to two losers to four unchanged prices recorded yesterday. The share price of UAC of Nigeria Plc which is the only gainer in the sector moved up by +0.05% while PZ Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc lost by -1.37% and -3.34% in that order.
The Food and beverages sector recorded seven losers with no gainer after today’s trading compared with one gainer to six losers recorded on Tuesday. The share price of Dangote Flour Mills shed -4.96% to lead the losers’ chart while Nigerian Bottling Company Plc and National Salt Company of Nigeria Plc followed with -4.94% and -4.90% loss respectively.
The insurance sector recorded four gainers to three losers compared with five losers to one gainer recorded yesterday.
The share price of African Petroleum Plc appreciates for the third trading day in a row to emerge the highest gainer in the sector with +4.97%. The sector recorded two gainers to two losers compared with one gainer with four losers recorded yesterday.
African Petroleum Plc topped the gainers chart for the day with +4.97% price appreciations. However, Oando Plc topped the losers chart for the day with -5% depreciations.
Source:Proshare
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