Nigeria’s equities market opened the month of February on a negative note (-0.13 percent), no thanks to counters like Nestle Nigeria, Julius Berger, Flour Mills, Vitafoam, and Access Bank that led the basket of laggards.
The market closed in red on the first trading day into the new month, a performance that opposes the bullish performance recorded in the preceding trading session.
The Bourse was not able to sustain the gains recorded in the oil & gas sector as profit-taking action across other sectors caused a negative close.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) decreased by 0.13 percent to 42,357.90 points, from 42,412 .66 points the preceding trading day, while the value of listed equities decreased by N30 billion to N22.157 trillion, from N22.187 trillion recorded last Friday. In 7,611 deals, investors exchanged 586.806 million shares valued at N6.024 billion.
While an extension of Monday’s profit taking in Tuesday’s session cannot be overruled, market watchers believe that the release of better-than-expected results by major bellwether stocks in the coming trading sessions will return the index to the positive region.
Nestle Nigeria stock price decreased most from N1,505 to N1,450, losing N55 or 3.65 percent, followed by Julius Berger Nigeria which dropped from N22.65 to N21, after shedding N1.65 or 7.28 percent.
Also, Flour Mills dipped from N34.7 to N33.6, shedding N1.1 or 3.17 percent. Vitafoam also decreased from N10.05 to N9.7, down by 35 kobo or 3.48 percent. Access Bank was down by 15 kobo, from N9.3 to N9.15, shedding 1.61 percent.
