LAGOS, MAY 15, 2018 – Nigerian equities opened this week to a massive selloff as investors sought to resize their portfolios in consideration for current corporate earnings and prospective risk-return values. With nearly three losers for every gainer, a widespread sell pressure shaved off N125 billion from the market value of quoted equities at the Nigerian stock market.
Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated average decline of 0.84 per cent for the five-hour trading session yesterday, representing net capital depreciation of N125 billion. The decline cut the average return by investors in Nigerian equities so far this year to 6.37 per cent.
Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the NSE dropped from the opening value of N14.860 trillion to close at N14.735 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based index that tracks share prices at the Exchange, also declined correspondingly from 41,022.31 points to close at 40,677.61 points.
The momentum of activities also slowed down below average with the exchange of 218.77 million shares valued at N2.23 billion in 4,109 deals.
With 31 losers to 11 gainers, all sectoral indices closed negative with the exception of the NSE Oil and Gas Index, which rose marginally by 0.01 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index declined by 1.7 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 1.6 per cent. The NSE Banking Index declined by 0.4 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index dipped by 0.2 per cent.
Nigeria’s highest-priced stock-Nestle Nigeria, led the losers with a drop of N50 to close at N1,530. Okomu Oil Palm followed with a loss of N4.50 to close at N85.50. Nigerian Breweries declined by N2.50 to close at N122. Dangote Cement dropped by N1.50 to close at N243.50. Oando declined by 40 kobo to close at N7.75. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated dropped by 35 kobo to close at N20.70 while UAC of Nigeria lost 30 kobo to close at N16.70 per share.
On the positive side, Caverton Offshore Support Group led the gainers with a gain of 13 kobo to close at N2.74. Fidson Healthcare followed with a gain of 11 kobo to close at N5.49. Cutix rose by 10 kobo to close at N3.15. FCMB Group added 9.0 kobo to close at N2.63 while Eterna chalked up 7.0 kobo to close at N7 per share.
United Bank for Africa was the most active stock with a turnover of 60.44 million shares valued at N706.64 million. FCMB Group followed with a turnover of 17.51 million shares worth N45.73 million while Sovereign Insurance placed third with a turnover of 12.44 million shares worth N2.49 million.
Most analysts said the steep decline has further opened up bargain opportunities for discerning investors.
“Despite today (Monday)’s bearish performance, we maintain our bullish outlook for the market hinged on the existence of bargain hunting opportunities in large and mid-cap stocks,” Afrinvest Securities stated.
Analysts at Cordros Capital stated that the “outlook for the equities market remains positive”, citing strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals.
“In the interim, we see a mixed sentiment albeit with a bearish bias. However, we maintain that the current valuation provides attractive entry opportunity,” SCM Capital stated.
