Nigeria stocks reverse gains as investors take profit

Nigeria’s equities market on Wednesday reversed preceding day’s gains as many speculative buyers rushed to Customs Street in Lagos to take profit after recent rally.
Despite that investors are seeking alpha-yielding opportunities in equities following increasingly negative real returns in the fixed income market, analysts had advised they invest in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for listed companies.

As activities on the buy side of the Nigerian Bourse dropped against sell side, equity holders lost about N144 billion at the close of trading on Wednesday. The stock market’s year-to-date (ytd) positive return decreased to +6.68 percent.

At the close of trading, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 0.95 percent from day open high of 28,909.37 points to 28,634.35 points, while the market capitalisation decreased from N15.110 trillion to N14.966 trillion.

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The shares of MTNN Plc, Nigeria’s leading mobile telecommunications operator, were offered most during trading session, resulting to its price decline by N2.2 or 1.54 percent, from N142.7 to N140.5.

Also on the losers table include Unilever Nigeria Plc which decreased from N13.65 to N12.3, after shedding N1.35 or 9.89 percent.

Zenith Bank Plc dipped from N20.8 to N19.55, losing N1.25 or 6.01 percent. Guinness Nigeria Plc decreased from N15.9 to N15, losing 90kobo or 5.66 percent.

Lafarge Africa Plc was also down, from N17.55 to N16.8, shedding 75kobo or 4.27 percent.

Banking stocks were actively traded, led by FBN Holdings Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, UBA Plc, Access Bank Plc and GTBank Plc. In 9,180 deals, investors exchanged 832,879,354 units valued at N9.539 billion.