Equities open week bearish as market cap relapses into N12trn range
The market capitalisation of the equities market that crossed the N13 trillion mark last Friday, has relapsed, as the equities’ market closed Monday on a negative note.
The market, which ended four of last week’s five trading days in the green with the All -Share Index (ASI), expanding 1.8 per cent to settle at 37,365.9 points, could be succumbing to profit taking activities from investors, as the market capitalization added N234.9billion to close at N13.0tn, which drove YTD return further to 39.0 per cent on Friday.
However, the first trading day of the new week ended on a sour note as lead market indices closed 0.31 per cent lower than figures achieved in previous session.
For instance, the market capitalisation that resumed with N13.01trn lost N36.1bn, as at the close of Monday’s trade to settle at N12.973 trillion.
Similarly, the ASI decreased by 0.31 per cent or 115.13 points to close at 37,250.78 points, compared to last Friday’s closing figure of 37,365.91 points.
The day’s performance now brings the NSE Year-to-Date (YTD) returns to 38.61 per cent.
Market breadth closed negative as Lawunion led 18 gainers, as against 24 losers topped by Airservice
Lawunion gained 4.92 per cent to close at 64 kobo per share. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company followed, gaining 4.87 per cent to close at N4.09 per share, while Dangote Flour Plc gained 4.01 per cent to close at N9.60 per share.
PZ Cussons gained 3.78 per cent to close at N23.87 per share, while Nascon Allied Industries emerged the fifth topmost gainer with an appreciation of 3.31 per cent to close at N15.60 per share.
On the other hand, Airservice Plc topped the day’s equities losers with a decline of 4.88 per cent to close at N5.85, Portland Paint followed, as it dropped N4.76 to close at N2 per share, while Stanbic Plc dropped 4.74 per cent to close at N40 per share.
University Press Plc also dropped 4.74 per cent to close at N2.41 and Linkage Assurance depreciated 4.69 per cent to close at 61 kobo per share.
On a positive note, Market turnover closed positive as volume moved up by 8.29 per cent to close at 942.7 million units of shares traded.
The shares traded in 3,868 deals were worth N4.779bn.
Top 5 volume movers were Wapic that sold 650.5 million shares worth N325.3m, Tantalizer that sold 43.8 million units worth N21.9m and Fidelity Bank that traded 31.9 million units worth N54.3m.
Market analysts at Cordros Capital have, however, expressed optimism on the performance of the market. In a weekly market bulletin, the analytical firm said “We expect the market to maintain last week’s upbeat trend as economic fundamentals continue to improve on the backdrop of the sustained oil rally.
Adesola Afolabi
