Investors count losses as bears fail to retreat

Another decline of 0.35 percent or N75 billion loss recorded Monday on the Nigerian Bourse has pushed the market down by 2 percent since the beginning of this month, thereby moderating the positive returns seen year-to-date (YtD) to 3.21 percent.

This month of February has been largely dominated by profit taking activity as some investors continued to sell down on gains made in the previous month. The NSE All Share Index (ASI) printed lower at the close of trading session on February 8, from a high of 41,709.09 points to 41,564.31 points, while the value of listed stocks decreased from N21.819 trillion to N21.744 trillion.

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By opening the week on a negative note, the market has again defied analysts’ expectation of some stability hinged on earnings results that could serve as catalysts for positive trajectory. GTBank Plc led others on the laggards list, dipping from N36 to N32.85, after losing N3.15 or 8.75 percent.

Other losers include PZ Cussons Plc which decreased from N5.65 to N5.1, after losing 55 kobo or 9.73 percent; Flour Mills decreased from N31.45 to N31, losing 45 kobo or 1.43 percent; Unilever was down from N14.6 to N14.3, shedding 30 kobo or 2.05 percent, while Champion Breweries dipped from N2.77 to N2.5, losing 27 kobo or 9.75 percent.

In 5,251 deals, investors exchanged 340,284,414 units on Monday, valued at N2.640 billion. Union Bank of Nigeria, FBN Holdings, Access Bank, Transcorp, and Zenith Bank were most traded stocks on the Bourse.