As an unimpressive earnings season came to a close, the Nigerian equities market extended losses with the All-Share Index (ASI) declining by 0.2 per cent to 26,293.30 points.
Thus, the Month-to-Date (MtD) and Year-to-Date (YtD) losses worsened to 4.8 and 16.3 per cent respectively while investors lost N30 billion in the trading week.
The nation’s bourse had on Monday halted its losing streak, advancing by 0.14 per cent to 26,384.45 points following modest earnings from CCNN and Wapco.
Tuesday’s session saw the domestic equities market resuming its descent, as the benchmark index dipped by 0.53 per cent to 26,244.39 points, following sell-offs in the shares of MTNN, GT Bank and Wapco.
Consequently, the MtD and YtD losses worsened to -5.02 and -16.50 per cent respectively. Buying interest in the shares of Dangote Cement, Access Bank and UACN pushed the benchmark index northward on Wednesday as the ASI rose by 0.25 per cent to settle at 26,310.77 points while YTD loss eased to -16.3 per cent. Consequently, investors gained N32.3 billion as market capitalisation advanced to N12.808 trillion.
Thursday’s session saw the equities market closing in the positive territory as the ASI rose 0.2 per cent to 26,359.27 points following gains posted by Nigerian Breweries, Seplat and Dangote Cement. Consequently, YTD loss moderated to -16.1 per cent while investors’ wealth appreciated as market capitalisation increased by N22 billion to N12.829 trillion.
However, Friday’s session saw the market reverse as the benchmark index fell by 0.24 per cent to close at 26,293.30 points while market capitalisation closed the week at N12.799 trillion.
Analysing by sectors, the Consumer Goods (-0.7 per cent) and Banking (-0.6 per cent) indices closed in the red, while the Oil & Gas (+5.0 per cent), Industrial Goods (+1.1 per cent), and Insurance (+0.3 per cent) indices recorded gains.
At the close of trading on Friday, 16 stocks appreciated in value while nine others depreciated. UPL topped the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N1.43 per share. Oando followed with 8.36 per cent to close at N3.37, Unity Bank increased by 7.41 per cent to close at 0.58 kobo, Flourmill rose by 6.69 per cent to close at N15.15 while Wapco rose by 5.26 per cent to close at N14.
On the flipside, Champion Breweries topped the losers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at 0.90 kobo per share. Nigerian Breweries was next with seven per cent to close at N46.50, Law Union dropped 6.69 per cent to close at 0.42 kobo, Stanbic IBTC declined by 5.41 per cent to close at N35 while Chip Plc lost five per cent to close at 0.38 kobo.
Reacting, analysts at Cordros Capital projected that the trend witnessed through the year is likely to persist through the final quarter of the year. They said that “although we expect pockets of gains over the final months of the year as fund and portfolio managers realign portfolios prior to the start of 2020. Nonetheless, we note that valuations remain attractive driven by price deterioration throughout the year. Hence, we advise that long-term investors consider appropriately timed investments”.
Charles Fakrogha, a stockbroker, explained that the economy was not doing well enough to attract investments in the nation’s capital market.
His words: “The Nigerian market is not behaving like its peers and if you look at the week, we saw about three days of market closing positive, so if the market closed in the negative territory on Friday, it is simply because of the forces of demand and supply that is playing out. So, the Nigerian market has not behaved outside the ordinary, once you have more people demanding for a particular security, then the price will go up, but if there are more offers from people who want to sell their stocks, then the market will close southward. So, it is an issue of demand and supply.
However, the market reflects the economy and if the economy is doing well then the market will do well. This week, we saw a lot of companies sending their Q3 results to the market, some did well while some didn’t and those who did well and the market reacted very well to some of their share prices. For me, investors should understand the market and know when and how to invest in the market”.
Zenith Bank was top on the activity chart with the sale of 76.54 million shares valued at N1.30 billion. UBA traded 65.03 million valued at N375.99 million while GT Bank transacted 41.09 million shares worth N1.02 billion.
Overall, the volume and value of stocks traded stood at 252.36 million units and N3.74 billion, exchanged in 2,872 deals.