Concerns over Santa Claus rally as investors book another N198bn loss

December 2019 has been a disappointing month for the Nigerian market with the NSE All Share Index (ASI) recording negative return of -3.28percent.

While select names on the local Bourse failed to push the benchmark Index higher, the market which opened this week on a negative note furthered the year-to-date (ytd) negative returns to 16.91percent.

The NSE ASI which opened this week’s trading at 26,526.35 points closed at 26,115.80 points, down by 1.55percent  while the cumulative value of listed stocks printed lower from preceding day high of N12.804 trillion to N12.606trillon, representing N198billion loss.

The negative takeoff into the new week ahead of Christmas and Boxing Days holidays came despite United Capital analysts’ expectations that investors will continue to lock in gains in stocks with strong potential for growth as the year runs to an end. Though their counterparts at Lagos-based Afrinvest said they expect market performance to remain bearish “due to continuous sell-offs.”

In 2,605 deals, investors exchanged 188,791,402 units valued at N2.430billion. Banking stocks led the activity chart. UBA, GTBank, Access Bank, NASCON and FBN Holdings were actively traded. The shares of MTNN led the losers table after it dropped from a day open level of N112.5 to N105, losing N7.5 or 6.67percent; ETI followed from a  high of N6.6 to N6, down by 60kobo or 9.09percent, while CCNN dropped from N18.65 to N18.1, losing 55kobo or 2.95percent. On the gainers table, NASCON   led other stocks after its share price increased from N11.95 to N12.5, adding 55kobo or 4.60percent. Lafarge Africa Plc also rose from N13.75 to N14, adding 25kobo or 1.82percent, while Julius Berger Nigeria Plc advanced from N19.5 to  N19.7, adding 20kobo or 1.03percent.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu