By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigerian equities on Wednesday slid 0.52 percent amidst weak company results and profit-taking across key Consumer Goods and Insurance counters.
At the end of today’s trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) all-share index (ASI) closed at 25,145.28 points, while market capitalisation fell by N45.41billion to N8.65 trillion.
“Today’s activities further cut the Month-to-Date gain to 2.34 percent and increased the Year-to-Date loss to 12.21 percent,” according to Cordros daily market update.
The update says the Consumer Goods and Insurance indices shed 1.98 percent and 0.51 percent respectively, following sell-offs in the shares of beer producer, Nigerian Breweries Plc and reinsurer, Continental Reinsurance Plc by 4.32 percent and 4.40 percent apiece.
On the contrary, the Banking and Industrial sectors appreciated 3.24 percent and 1.65 percent each on gains recorded in the shares of Nigeria’s top tier lender, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and cement producer, Dangote Cement Plc by 0.28 percent and 1.23 percent respectively.
Similarly, price appreciations in the shares of first dual listed Nigerian oil and gas upstream firm, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and oil marketing major, Oando Plc both gaining 3.33 percent and 0.25 percent apiece; boosting the Oil and Gas index by 0.86 percent.
The Cordros report affirmed that market breadth remained negative at the close of the day’s business on the Nigerian bourse, posting 15 gainers and 23 losers.
Manufacturer of foam furniture and furnishings, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of 0.45 kobo per share; while Africa’s global lender, the United Bank for Africa Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of 0.33 kobo per share.
In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market climbed by 78.35 percent to 504.21 million shares worth N2.14 billion and traded in 3,374 deals.
“With positive investors’ interest across key Banking, Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas counters today, we expect profit-taking to be subdued tomorrow,” the Cordros update added.
