By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday halted a six (6) day losing streak as all-share index (ASI) gained 0.71 percent to close at 29,446.95 basis points, while market capitalisation increased by N17.40 billion to close at N10.12 trillion.
Cordros daily market update says today’s gain on the Consumer Goods stocks rally pared the Month-to-Date (M-t-D) and Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) losses to 5.67 percent and 15.03 percent respectively.
According to the report, the Consumer Goods sector with a growth of 3.06 percent was the sole gainer in today’s session, following increases in the shares of brewer, Nigerian Breweries Plc by 6.76 percent, sugar producer, Dangote Sugar refineries Plc by 6.46 percent, Flour Mills Nigeria Plc with a gain of 3.42 percent, soap and detergent maker PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc with a growth of 1.17 percent and the shares of beverage maker Nestle Nigeria Plc with a gain of 0.72 percent.
On the contrary, the Banking index dropped by 1.17 percent and Oil/Gas with 1.15 percent once again led losses on the back of declines in the shares of Africa’s global bank, United Bank for Africa Plc by 5.00 percent, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc by 2.04 percent. Others are financial services giant, FBN Holdings Plc with a loss of 1.92 percent, lender Zenith Bank Plc dipping by 1.79 percent, oil marketer Oando Plc by 9.52 percent and Eterna Plc 4.73 percent.
The Cordros report further affirmed that the Industrial sector dipped 0.34 percent on declines in the shares of construction giant, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc by 2.95 percent and cement producer, Dangote Cement Plc with a loss of 0.57 percent, while the Insurance index was however unchanged from the previous session.
At the close of the day’s trading, market breadth remained negative with 12 gainers and 27 losers. Nigeria’s top brewer, Nigerian Breweries emerged the top gainer with a gain of N9.13; while leading diversified company, operating in the food and beverages, real estate, paint and logistics sectors UAC of Nigeria Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of N2.78 per share.
In terms of turnover, volume traded decreased by 33.29 percent to 257.69 million shares worth N2.82 billion in 2,882 deals.
“We do not expect gains to continue as market sentiment remains damp evident in the negative market breadth. In addition, disappointing corporate releases continue to dent investors’ appetite,” Cordros update added.
