Forte Oil, Honeywell, Cadbury, 19 others lose N64bn
Stanley Opara
The Nigerian equities market closed on
a negative note on Monday as Forte Oil Plc, Honeywell Flour Mill Plc,
Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Nascon Allied Industries
Plc and Oando Plc led a
N64bn loss at the close of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock
Exchange.
The NSE market capitalisation dropped
from N9.009tn recorded on Friday last week to N8.945tn, while the
All-Share Index slid to 25,986.81 basis points from 26,170.88 basis
points.
A total of 160.908 million shares worth N1.115bn were traded in 2,431 deals.
The share price of Forte Oil dropped to
N94.32 from N104.50, shedding N10.18 (9.74 per cent), while Honeywell
shares closed at N1.14 from N1.20, losing N0.06 (five per cent).
Similarly, Cadbury shares lost N0.05
(4.95 per cent) to close at N10.57 from N11.12, while the share price of
Nascon dipped by N0.37 (4.90 per cent) to close at N7.18 from N7.55.
Oando share price also closed at N4.09 from N4.30, losing N0.21 (4.88 per cent).
The NSE ASI opened the week 0.7 per
cent lower, dropping below 26,000 points for the first time in six
months, as all key sectors closed negative.
The oil and gas sector led the market declines, down by 2.40 per cent following losses in the shares of Forte Oil and Oando.
The financial services sector followed
suit on the back of declines in Zenith Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc by 4.16 per cent, 2.97 per cent and 2.23 per
cent, respectively.
The consumer goods and industrial goods
sectors also closed lower amid declines in PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc,
Guinness Nigeria Plc and Cap Plc by 4.37 per cent, 0.11 per cent and
4.66 per cent, respectively.
Market breadth remained negative with 10 advances and 22 declines.
On what would shape the next trading
session, analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Plc said, “We highlight
that investor sentiment remains bearish as revealed by the sell-off
across sectors. On this note, we believe ASI could shed more points in
the coming session.”
On the global scene, European markets
traded higher whilst most Asian markets slipped as investors continued
to react to the results of the United States presidential election.
However, the Nikkei closed higher,
buoyed by a weaker yen and better-than-expected economic data (Japan’s
Q3 Gross Domestic Product grew at an annualised 2.2 per cent
year-on-year beating a forecast of 0.9 per cent year-on-year). The Dow
opened at a record high driven by gains in financial stocks.
Meanwhile, the interbank call rate
moderated a slight 67 basis points to 25 per cent amid a relatively
unchanged system liquidity. At the foreign exchange interbank market,
the naira depreciated N0.50 against the dollar to close at N305.25 at
week open in the spot market whilst the one year forward remained
unchanged at N355.
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