MTNN, others drag stock market southwards

The Nigerian equities market closed negative on Thursday December 19 supporting earlier expectations that the market will remain bearish this week due to continued sell-offs.

The disappointing outing at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was fuelled among others by decline in prices of MTNN, UPDC REIT, UACN, Access Bank, and International Breweries Plc.

“We expect equity market performance to remain    volatile for the rest of the week as bargain hunters and profit takers continue to visit the exchange,” according to research analysts at United Capital Plc.

“A mid-session decline in MTNN cemented the loss for the All Share Index (ASI) while the session was generally mixed otherwise”, said Lagos-based analysts at Vetiva Securities.

They expect investors to carefully hunt for bargains on certain stocks which depreciated in Thursday’s session, adding that activity in the market heavyweights will ultimately determine the direction of the ASI. As such, they foresee a mild recovery for the Nigerian bourse on Friday.

Read also: How ‘badly’ did MTN Nigeria really fare this year: a comparative analysis of the NCC statistics/report  

The NSE All Share Index (ASI) moved down by 0.30percent from a preceding day high of 26,665.73 points to 26,584.45 points. The value of listed equities on the Bourse decreased to N12.83trillion.

In 2,690 deals, equity dealers exchanged 304,214,729 units valued at N3.148billion. Access Bank, Zenith Bank, FCMB, GTBank and Fidelity Bank were actively traded equities.

The market has gained 0.18percent this week, but has decreased by 1.55percent this month, and 15.42percent year-to-date (ytd).

The record negative further raises concerns on the possibility of Santa Claus rally that involves a rise in stock prices during the last 5 trading days in December and the first 2 trading days in the following January.

The stocks of MTN N recorded the highest price decline on Thursday December 19. It decreased from N115.3 to N112.5, losing N2.8 or 2.43percent. UPDC REIT also decreased from a high of N3.65 to N3.3, losing 35kobo or 9.59percent.

UACN Plc was also down from N8.75 to N8.6, losing 15kobo or 1.71percent, while Access Bank Plc declined from N9.9 to N9.8, losing 10kobo or 1.01percent.

GTBank Plc stock price rallied most, from N29.5 to N30, after adding 50kobo or 1.69percent, followed by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc which advanced from N5.25 to N5.75, adding 50kobo or 9.52percent.

The share price of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc moved up from N37 to N37.2, after rising by 20kobo or 0.54percent, and Fidelity Bank Plc which rose from N2.08 to N2.2, adding 12kobo or 5.77percent.