Nigeria’s stock market fails to sustain gains

No fewer than 39 listed companies that filed their Audited and Interim Financial Statements after the regulatory due dates for years 2019 and 2020 paid the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) penalties cumulatively valued at N345 million.

On Tuesday September 15, the stock market of Africa’s largest economy was unable to sustain previous day’s gains, no thanks to investors in oil & gas counters.

More investors offered shares of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc which affected the pricing. Seplat led the losers table after moving from N390 to N385, down by N5 or 1.28percent.

Red Star Express Plc share price also dipped, from N3.75 to N3.52, losing 23kobo or 6.13percent. Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc decreased from N12.05 to N11.9, losing 15kobo or 1.24percent.

Oando Plc share price was also down from N2.38 to N2.25, losing 13kobo or 5.46percent; while NPF Microfinance Bank Plc dipped from N1.38 to N1.25, down by 13kobo or 9.42percent.

The negative sentiment seen around oil & gas stocks on the Nigerian Bourse –NSE Oil & Gas Index (-1.16percent) – comes despite that crude oil prices rose on Tuesday, but forecasts of a slower than expected recovery in global fuel demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic still weighed.

Brent crude was up 44 cents, or 1.1percent, at $40.05 a barrel by 1209 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 52 cents, or 1.4percent, at $37.78 a barrel. Both contracts fell on Monday.

Gains in stocks like Lafarge Africa (+3.45percent), Chemical and Allied Product (+1.19percent), and GTBank (+0.20percent) could not reverse the negative. At the close of trading session, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 0.03 percent to 25,597.96 points, from preceding day’s high of 25,605.59 points.

Likewise, the valued of listed stocks (market capitalisation) decreased by N4billion to N13.354trillion as against preceding day high of N13.358trillion.

The stock market’s negative return year-to-date (ytd) increased to -4.63percent. In 3,597 deals, investors exchanged 245,139,497 units valued at N3.013billion. Banking stocks were actively traded, led by FBN Holdings, GTBank, Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC and Access Bank.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with over 18 years journalism experience writing on banking, finance and capital markets. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA).

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