Equities Market Declines After 8 Days of Bull Run

The Nigerian equities market closed on a negative note yesterday after eight consecutive days of gains. The market has remained bullish since last week following the activities of bargain hunters.

However, the market moderated on Thursday as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index went down by 0.50 per cent to close at 30,045.56.

Similarly, market capitalisation shed N50 billion to close at N10 trillion. The moderation in the trading was attributed to profit taking by short term investors who moved in to lock in gains recorded in most of the equities in the last bullish days.

Specifically, significant decline in the ASI yesterday was mainly due to sell-offs huge capitalised equities like Zenith Bank, Nigerian Breweries and Dangote Cement.

However, 22 stocks depreciated just as 22 others appreciated in value as well. Sectorally, only the NSE Insurance Index closed positively. It went up by 1.7 per cent on the back of gains recorded by Mansard Insurance (4.7 per cent) and Custodian & Allied Insurance (2.6 per cent).

UAC of Nigerian Plc led the price gainers with 6.8 per cent, followed by NEM Insurance Plc with 5.0 per cent. Nestle Nigeria, which declared a final dividend of N17.50 the previous day also closed among the gainers with 1.8 per cent appreciation.

Nestlé ended 2014 with a revenue of N143.3 billion, up by 7.7 per cent from N133.1 billion posted in 2013. Cost of sale rose by 7.6 per cent from N76.3 billion to N82.1 billion, while gross profit grew by almost same margin from N56.8 billion to N61.2 billion. Financial charges soared by 147 per cent from N2.1 billion to N5.3 billion. This depressed the profit before tax by 6.7 per cent to N24.4 billion, from N26 billion in 2013, while profit after tax stood at N22.2 billion in 2014 compared to N22.3 billion in 2013.

Meanwhile, Okomu Oil Palm Plc led the price losers with 9.7 per cent , trailed by United Bank for Africa Plc with 4.9 per cent. Consequently, the NSE the Banking Index went down by 1.8 per cent. Similarly, the NSE Industrial Goods Index, NSE Oil & Gas Index and NSE Consumer Goods Index declined by 0.4 per cent , 0.3 per cent, and 0.1 per cent respectively.

Source: Thisdaylive