June 20, 2018
By InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The equities market on Wednesday closed the second trading session of the week in the red as the Nigerian Stock Exchange all-share index (NSEASI) lost 0.15 percent to close at 38,605.07 points, driven by sell-offs across sectors.
Investment One reports that at the close of the trading session on the domestic bourse, market breadth index was positive with 23 gainers compared 20 stocks that declined.
The report says that insurer, Prestige Assurance Plc unlike the previous session emerged the topmost gainer with a gain of +10.00 percent while, first dual listed Nigerian oil and gas upstream firm, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc with a loss of -4.99 percent led the losers chart.
Top tier lender, Zenith Bank Plc with a gain of +1.96 percent was the most actively traded stock with 44.84 million units of shares worth N1.2 billion.
In terms of sector performance, the NSE Oil & Gas index closed down by 2.36 percent on the back of the selloffs recorded in the shares of SEPLAT -4.99 percent which offset gains recorded in the shares of Eterna Plc and Japaul Oil and Maritime Services Plc both gaining +8.93 percent and +7.50 percent apiece.
The NSE Consumer Goods index lost 0.25 percent due to the declines in the shares of Dangote Flour Mills Plc which lost by -1.42 percent, beer producer, Nigerian Breweries Plc and UAC of Nigeria Plc both lost -1.00 percent and -0.68 percent each.
In the same vein, NSE Industrial index dipped by 0.13 percent resulting from the losses in the shares of cement producers, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc and Lafarge Wapco Cement Nigeria Plc both depreciating by -3.08 percent and -0.26 percent respectively.
On the positive side, the NSE Banking index gained 0.20 percent following the gains recorded in the shares of lender, ZENITHBANK +1.96 percent. While, Wema Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc gained +1.37 percent and +1.30 percent each.
“Going forward, we expect the market to remain volatile in the absence of positive news flow. With this said, we highlight that the recent sell-off in the equities market presents an entry opportunity for investors with a medium to longer term horizon,” the InvestmentOne Report added.
