Equities market begins trading low, sheds N277bn in one day

Due to the weak sentiments in the wake sharp drop in the oil prices and the Covid-19 pandemic, the equities market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday opened trading for the week with a loss of N277 billion.

For instance, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 530.99 points or 2.43 per cent to close at 21, 330.79 against 21, 861.78 on Friday.

Also, the market capitalisation, which opened at N11.383 trillion, shed N276 billion or 2.43 per cent to close at N11.116 trillion.

The downtrend was impacted by loses recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, among which are: MTN Nigeria, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, International Breweries and Access Bank.

This week, analysts at Imperial Asset Managers Ltd. said: “We expect market sentiment to remain volatile, given the circumstances surrounding oil prices and macro-economy development.

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“We also expect investors to react positively to healthcare quoted stocks amid the fiscal and monetary stimulus channelled to the sector in a desperate move to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” they said.

Market breadth was negative with 11 gainers against 15 losers.

MTN Nigeria led the losers’ chart in percentage terms, dropping by 10 per cent to close at N90 per share.

Wema Bank followed with a decline of 9.62 per cent to close at 47k, while International Breweries declined by 9.26 per cent to close at N4.90 per share.

Prestige Assurance and United Capital shed 8.33 per cent each to close at 55k and N2.20 per share, respectively.

Conversely, Berger Paints dominated the gainers’ chart in percentage terms, gaining 9.84 per cent to close at N6.70 per share.

Mobil followed with 9.83 per cent to close at N160.90, while Cadbury Nigeria appreciated by 9.68 per cent to close at N6.80 per share.

DN Meyer grew by 8.70 per cent to close at 50k, while Africa Prudential improved by 8.19 per cent to close at N3.70 per share.

In spite of the drop in market indices, the volume of shares traded closed upbeat as investors bought and sold 466.91 million shares worth N1.93 billion traded in 3,659 deals.

This was in contrast with 261.41 million shares valued at N3.36 billion transacted in 3,968 deals on Friday.