Equities market depreciates by N157bn over profit-taking in Okomu oil, 22 others

 Activities in the Nigerian equities market kicked off the week on Monday on a bearish note as sell pressures in Okomu Oil Plc and 22 others led the overall capitalisation lower by N157bn

Consequently, the All Share Index (ASI) down by 289.00 points or f 0.44 per cent to close at 65,036.37 points. Also, market capitalisation declined by N157 billion to close at N35.415 trillion.

The downtrend was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Okomu Oil, Eterna, Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings (FBNH) and Stanbic IBTC Holdings.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was slightly negative, as 22 stocks gained relative to 23 losers. Cornerstone Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 9.32 per cent to close at N1.29, per share. Omatek Ventures followed with a gain of 8.82 per cent to close at 37 kobo, while The Initiates Plc (TIP) rose by 8.51 per cent to close at N1.02, per share.

Chams Holding Company appreciated by 7.37 per cent to close at N1.02, while R.T. Briscoe Nigeria rose by 6.98 per cent to close at 46 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Eterna led the losers’ chart by 9.90 per cent to close at N17.75, per share. SUNU Assurance followed with a decline of 9.57 per cent to close at N1.04, while University Press declined by 9.24 per cent to close at N2.26, per share.

FTN Cocoa Processors depreciated by 8.44 per cent to close at N2.06, while Okomu Oil declined by 5.66 per cent to close at N250.00, per share.

The total volume of trade declined by 47.10 per cent to 259.041 million units, valued at N4.205 billion, and exchanged in 5,899 deals. Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) topped the activity chart with 41.760 million shares valued at N167.931 million. Access Holdings followed with 18.155 million shares worth N312.692 million, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 15.567 million shares valued at N585.1 million.

Sterling Financial Holdings Company traded 14.187 million shares valued at N50.997 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) sold 13.010 million shares worth N185.375 million.

This week, United Capital Plc said “we expect mixed investors’ sentiments towards the Nigerian equities market. Given that the majority of companies on the NGX-ASI have released their Q2-2023 financials, we expect any buy-interest in the market to be driven by the excess system liquidity and investors’ demand for higher returns (risk-on sentiments). However, we expect tempered interests in equities in the week.”