Nigerian Bourse returned to Loss on Thursday after two consecutive days of gain. The All Share Index (ASI) dropped by 0.01% to close at 24,276.56 from 24,278.07 on Wednesday.
Investors lost N786.761 million as the Market Capitalization decreased to N12.664 trillion from N12.665 trillion the previous day.
The market was driven south by the losses in Conoil (-10.00%), Vitafoam (-9.30%), Intbrew (-8.86%) among others.
The volume and value of shares traded declined on Thursday by 17.42% and 47.43% respectively. The number of deals declined further by 8.80% compared to Wednesday values.
192,081,951 units of shares valued at N2,470,093,437.51 were traded in 3,833 deals on Thursday, compared to 232,609,049 units of shares worth N4,698,272,125.17 which exchanged hands in 3,523 deals on Wednesday,
The shares of Fidelity was the most traded by volume for the second consecutive day, with 38,064,606 units of shares worth N68,549,038.51 exchanging hands in 111 deals.
In terms of value, the shares of Guaranty took the reign from MTNN, with 23,578,640 units valued at N534,467,897.40 traded in 438 deals.
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Three of the indices under our watch advanced. The Banking Index rose by 0.60% to close at 285.14. Gains in Guaranty and Zenith, pushed the Index to its fifth successive rise.
Insurance Index, grew by 0.64% for the second consecutive day to close at 126.49 due to 7.00% and 3.30% rise in the share prices of Lawunion and Aiico respectively.
The Industrial Goods Index grew for three straight days. The Index rose by 0.02% to close at 1,094.31, while the Consumer Goods Index recorded its seventh decline in a row. It dropped by 0.64% to close at 411.44 mainly due to 8.86% decline in the share price of Intbrew.
Oil and Gas Index recorded its fifth consecutive losses. The Index dropped by 0.44% to close at 194.89, dragged by 10.00% loss in the share price of Conoil.
Investor sentiment dipped to 0.6x from 3.14x on Wednesday. 10 equities advanced in prices while 15 declined on Thursday compared to 25 equities which advanced on Wednesday with 8 declining.
Top five gainers by percentage with the closing prices are; Lawunion (7.00%; N1,07), Honyflour (6.59%; N097), Sterlnbank (5.83%; N1.27), PZ (3.57%; N4.35) and Caverton (3.45%; 1.27%).
Top five decliners by percentage are; Conoil (10.00%; N18.90), Arbico (-9.52%; N1.71), Vitafoam (-9.30%; N5.07), Intbrew (-8.86%; N3.6) and Jaizbank (7.14%; N0.52).
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Analysts’ view at Investogist; The impact of Covid-19 on the listed companies is expected to reflect on the first half financial reports. Several companies have announced closed period for H1 financial statements. including Flourmills, Stanbic, Bua Cement, Mobil (11 Plc), Dangote, Lafarge, Seplat, Guaranty, Zenith among others.
Investors will continue to trade with caution while awaiting the the release of H1 financial statements by the listed companies. We still maintain our negative outlook to the market in the short and medium term.
Written by;
Ifunanya Ikueze