Equities: Investors scale down portfolio, move 403mn units worth N1.9bn

Nigeria’s equities market continued the week on a sluggish note as lingering FX issues and upcoming holidays have fueled investors’ apathy towards market activities.

Market activities measured by volume traded fell to 402.7 million units, while value traded closed uptick at N1.9 billion in contrast to N584 million recorded on Monday.

The All Share Index (ASI) lost 0.58 percent on the back of losses in weighted market names such as Mobil which dropped N34, Forte Oil N1.09, Dangote Cement 60 kobo, Flour Mills 49 kobo and Nigerian Breweries 45 kobo

The ASI and the market capitalization consequently closed Tuesday’s trading session at 25,478.06 points and N8.815 trillion respectively as the Year-to-date loss increased to -5.22 percent.

Fidelity Bank maintained its spot at the topmost part of the gainers (12) table following an impressive dividend payment proposal. The Bank maintained growth with 8.70 percent to close at N1 per share, International Breweries was next with a 4.92 percent growth to close at N17.50 per share, while Nigeria Police Force Microfinance Bank added 4.88 percent to close at N1.29.

AIICO also gained 3.92 percent to close at 53 kobo, and UAC-Prop appreciated 3.55 percent to close at N1.75 per share.

Mobil led 26 decliners, recording the highest share price decline of 9.44 percent to close the day at N326, Oando followed on the losers table with a decrease of 5.34 percent to close at N5.32 per share, while Nascon Allied dropped 4.94 percent to close at N8.08 per share.

UCAP shed 4.75 percent to close at N2.81, and Livestock Feeds was fifth on the losers chart with a depreciation of 4.48 percent to close at 64 kobo per share

Top three traded stocks for the day were Fidelity Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and FBN Holdings They each traded 262.9 million, 27.4 million and 22.3 million units of shares respectively, valued at N262.3 million, N31.3 million and N69.2 million respectively.