Nigeria’s equities market continued its downward trend on Wednesday, September 16 as more investors sold stocks like Cadbury Nigeria, Lafarge Africa, Zenith Bank, International Breweries and NEM Insurance. This week, the market has decreased by 0.13percent while this month it has increased by 0.91 percent.
Many investors have continued to adopt cautious approach to stocks trading while expecting clarity around global indicators. In the absence of positive catalysts capable of lifting investors’ sentiment, the Nigerian equities market will still remain weak.
Crude oil prices rose for a second day on Wednesday, gaining more than 2percent, as a hurricane closed U.S. offshore production and an industry report showed U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly decreased.
More than a quarter of U.S. offshore output was shut on Tuesday due to Hurricane Sally. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday said crude inventories fell 9.5 million barrels, rather than increased as analysts expected.
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Brent crude rose 94 cents or 2.3, to $41.47 a barrel by 1350 GMT, while U.S. crude added 92 cents, or 2.4percent, to $39.20. Both contracts rose by more than 2percent on Tuesday.
At the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Cadbury Nigeria Plc decreased most at the close of trading session after its share price moved from N7.75 to N7.1, shedding 65kobo or 8.39percent.
Also, Lafarge Africa Plc decreased from N13.5 to N13, losing 5kobo or 3.70percent. NEM Insurance dipped from a high of N2.25 to N2.03, losing 22kobo or 9.78percent.
Zenith Bank decreased from N17.2 to N17, shedding 20kobo or 1.16percent; while International Breweries Plc decreased from N3.2 to N3, after losing 20kobo or 6.25percent.
At the close of trading session, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-share Index (ASI) which tracks the performance of the Bourse decreased by 0.15 percent to 25,558.81 points from 25,597.96 points the preceding trading day.
Also, the value of listed stocks (market capitalisation) decreased by N2billion to N13.352trillion from N13.354trillion recorded the preceding day. The market’s negative year-to-date (YTD) return increased to -4.78percent. In 3,651 deals, investors exchanged 211,816,446 units valued at N2.417billion. Banking stocks were actively traded, led by that of FCMB, Access Bank, UBA, Zenith Bank, and FBN Holdings.
