The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) opened for the week on Monday on a downward trend with investors’ net worth dropping by 0.21 per cent due to unstable economic environment. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the All-Share Index lost 90 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 41,845.90 compared with 41,935.90 achieved on Friday.
Similarly, the market capitalisation, which opened at N15.001 trillion, shed N32 billion or 0.21 per cent to close at N14.969 trillion following price depreciation. it will be recalled that the market had maintained a negative posture in spite of improved audited results released by some companies.
Commenting on the market performance, an economist, Sheriffdeen Tella, a Professor of Economics at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun, attributed the development to unstable economic environment.Tella told NAN that non-passage of the 2018 budget by the National Assembly and absence of monetary policy to fine tune the economy was affecting stability in the stock market.
According to him, investors are continued to be risk averse. He said that foreign investors were unsure of the macro-economic direction, while the local investors too were affected by absence of information asymmetry in the market.
Tella said that the bearish trend would likely dominate the market this week, unless approval was giving for membership of the Monetary Policy Committee and a greater commitment to the passage of 2018 budget. A breakdown of the price movement table indicated that Nigerian Breweries topped the losers’ chart, declining by N4.50 to close at N128.50 per share. Cadbury trailed with a loss of N1.65 to close at N15.45, while Stanbic IBTC lost N1 to close at N49 per share. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated depreciated by 95k to close at N18.85, while NASCON Allied Industries was down by 65k to close at N19.35 per share.
On the other hand, Dangote Cement led the gainers’ table, increasing by N1 to close at N265 per share. PZ followed with a gain of 55k to close at N23.55, while Zenith Bank appreciated by 40k to close at N28 per share. Guaranty Trust Bank added 40k to close at N28, while C &I Leasing advanced by 18k to close at N1.99 per share. Also, the volume of shares traded dropped by 23.19 per cent as investors bought and sold 327.76 million shares worth N5.26 billion in 5,366 deals. This was against the 426.73 million shares valued at N7.09 billion exchanged in 5,191 deals on Friday.
Zenith Bank was the most active stock, exchanging 128.97 million shares worth N3.49 billion. FBN Holdings followed with an account of 23.78 million shares valued at N276.31 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 16.68 million shares worth N37.99 million. Access Bank sold 11.69 million shares valued at N136.81 million, while Transcorp exchanged 11.47 million shares worth N19.18 million. (NAN)
