Nigerian equities market bull-run halted as benchmark index pares 0.8%

Nigerian equities market 3-day bull-run was reversed at the close of trade Tuesday as bourse’s all-share index fell 0.8 percent to close at 36,669.61 points, while year-to-date gain moderated to 36.4 percent.

Accordingly, market capitalization shed N103.8 billion to settle at N12.6 trillion due primarily to losses in DANGCEM (-1.8%), NESTLE (-3.3%) and GUARANTY (-1.0%).

Despite the 1.4 percent drop in volume to N211.9 million units, total value of trades increased dramatically, rising 73.6 percent from N2.7 billion to N4.7 billion.

Sector performance was negative across board as all indices declined. On the back of drops in DANGCEM (-1.8%) and NESTLE (-3.3%), the industrial and consumer goods indices were the major losers, both down 0.9 percent from previous close.

Similarly, the oil & gas index fell 0.5 percent owing to a loss in MOBIL (-5.0%). The insurance index declined (0.4%) following a depreciation in MANSARD (-4.6%) just as the banking index fell marginally by 0.1 percent contrary to previous session’s 1.0 percent increase on account of losses in GUARANTY (-1.0%).

Despite the decline in performance, market breadth remained positive at 1.0x (from 1.8x on Monday) as 21 stocks advanced against 21 decliners.

The best performers were INTBREW (+5.8%), NEM (+4.5%) and FIRSTALUM (+4.0%), while REDSTAREX (-9.2%), NEIMETH (-8.8%) and CHAMPION (-5.2%) were the worst performers.

Analysts attribute the day’s negative close to profit taking on recent gains in the equities market, however they see an upturn in following sessions due to Q3:2017 earnings releases.