Negative sentiments persist as NGX index dips 0.04% w/w

By Temitope Adebayo

Negative sentiments persisted on the equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) for the second consecutive week as the All-Share Index dipped by 0.04 per cent week-on-week (W-o-W) to close at 54,892.53 points.

However, the market capitalisation was up by N13 billion to close the week at N29.903 trillion.

Also, sector performances were mixed, as the NGX Consumer Goods index posted a weekly loss of 0.74 per cent. NGX Industrial Goods index went down by 0.49 per cent and NGX Insurance index shed 0.53 per cent W-o-W. On the other hand, the NGX Banking index advanced by 0.9 per cent, while NGX Oil and Gas index closed flat.

The market breadth for the week was negative as 28 equities appreciated in price, 27 equities depreciated in price, while 102 equities remained unchanged.

SUNU Assurance led the gainers table by 9.09 per cent to close at 48 kobo, per share. LASACO Assurance followed with a gain of 7.14 per cent to close at N1.05, while NPF Microfinance Bank went up by 6.94 per cent to close to N1.85, per share.

On the other side, NCR Nigeria led the decliners table by 18.69 per cent to close at N2.35, per share. Ikeja Hotel followed with a loss of 18.25 per cent to close at N1.03, while International Breweries declined by 6.45 per cent to close at N4.35, per share.

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Overall, a total turnover of 1.689 billion shares worth N11.066 billion in 14,019 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 853.745 million shares valued at N11.841 billion that exchanged hands previous week in 18,543 deals.

The Healthcare Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.086 billion shares valued at N1.627 billion traded in 267 deals; contributing 64.32 per cent and 14.70 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Financial Services Industry followed with 379.556 million shares worth N4.547 billion in 6,711 deals, while the Conglomerates Industry pulled a turnover of 89.526 million shares worth N131.231 million in 534 deals.

Trading in the top three equities; Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals, Transnational Corporation (Transcrop) and United Bank for Africa (UBA) accounted for 1.248 billion shares worth N2.347 billion in 1,102 deals, contributing 73.89 per cent and 21.21 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Meanwhile, equities performance this week is expected to maintain cautious trading sentiment following the ongoing portfolio rebalancing activities.