NSE: Bears maintain hold as investors post losses on last July trading day

The Nigerian equities market sustained bearish mood on Wednesday to end the last trading day in July with a loss of 0.37 percent. The sell pressures in blue chips persisted, forcing the market to close the month in red.

Specifically, the All-Share Index shed 102.31 points or 0.37 percent to 27,718.26 from 27,820.57 reported on Tuesday. Also, investors lost N50 billion in value as market capitalisation declined to N13.508 trillion in contrast with N13.558 achieved on Tuesday.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, among which were; Nestle Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Berger Paints Nigeria and Conoil.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “we expect the bearish performance to be sustained till the close of the week as investors’ sentiment toward equities remains weak.”

However, APT Securities and Funds Limited said: “in spite of setback experienced at the close of today’s trading session, we are of the opinion that the market is set for a rebound.

We, therefore, advise investors to accumulate fundamentally justified stocks at this time.”

Market breadth also closed with 20 gainers and 20 losers. Julius Berger recorded the highest price gain of 9.87 percent to close at N20.60 per share.

Forte Oil followed with a gain of 9.17 percent to close at N19.65, while Mutual Benefits Assurance appreciated by 9.09 percent to close at 24k per share. Wapic Insurance grew by 7.69 percent to close at 42k, while Jaiz Bank appreciated by 7.14 percent to close at 45k per share.

Conversely, University Press recorded the highest price loss of 10 percent to close at N1.62. Berger Paints followed with a decline of 9.52 percent to close at N5.70 per share. Dangote Sugar dipped 9.26 per cent to close at N9.80, while Eterna and Nigerian Breweries declined by 9.09 percent each to close at N3 and N50, respectively, per share.

The total volume of shares traded appreciated by 62.31 percent to 251.93 million shares worth N4.13 billion exchanged in 3,937 deals. This was against 155.21 million shares valued at N2.23 billion traded in 3,192 deals on Tuesday.

Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 39.14 million shares valued at N718.84 million. FBN Holdings came second with 34.76 million shares worth N197.50 million, while United Bank for Africa sold 27.69 million shares valued at N163.69 million. Guaranty Trust Bank accounted for 23.50 million shares worth N667.64 million, while Transcorp traded 23.33 million shares valued at N22.14 million.