Nigerian Stock Market Maintains Downward Trend

The Nigerian stock market maintained a downward trend on Tuesday May 15, 2018 as 25 stocks lost their value against just 12 gainers.

Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, Oando Plc, GTBank Plc, and Dangote Flour Mills Plc respectively led the basket of loser while Nestle Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Chemical and Allied Products Plc, Ecobank Transnational Plc, and NPF Micro Finance Bank Plc stocks rallied most. Stock investors lost approximately N23billion on Tuesday.

At the close of trading session on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the All Share Index (ASI) decreased further by 0.15percent pushing the Year-to-Date (ytd) return lower at 6.20percent. The All Share Index closed at 40,615.42 points against the preceding day close of 40,677.61 points, while Market Capitalisation stood lower at N14.712 trillion against preceding day close of N14.735 trillion.

Zenith Bank Plc lost N1.15 or 4 percent of its open day price of N28.75 to N27.6; FBN Holdings Plc share price dropped from N12 to N11.5, down by 50kobo or 4.17percent; Oando Plc declined from N7.75to N7.4, down by 35kobo or 4.52percent; Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) dipped from N44.3 to N44, down by 30kobo or 0.68percent; while Dangote Flour Mills Plc decreased from N11.5 to N11.25, down by 25kobo or 2.17percent.

On the gainers table, Nestle Nigeria Plc rallied most, after its share price advanced from N1,530 to N1,573, up by N43 or 2.81percent; Nigerian Breweries Plc increased from N122 to N124.8, up by N2.8 or 2.30percent. Chemical and Allied Products Plc gained N1.1, from N38.9 to N40, up by 2.83percent; Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc gained 30kobo, from N20.7 to N21, up by 1.45percent; while NPF Microfinance Bank Plc rose from N1.78 to N1.85, up by 7kobo or 3.93percent.

GTBank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Oando Plc were actively traded stocks on Custom Street. The volume of stocks traded decreased by 7.05percent, from 218.773 million to 203.360 million, while the total value of stocks traded increased by 98.47percent, from N2.231 billion to N4.427 billion in 4,090 deals.

As usual, the Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 159.8million shares exchanged for N2.751 billion; followed by Consumer Goods with 16.8million shares traded for N1.503 billion.