Bear maintainces stance on Nigerian burse as Index down o.12% Monday

The benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded its third consecutive session of loss, falling by 0.12 per cent to close at 40,425.07 points on Monday, its lowest since January 9, 2018.

Similarly, the equities market capitalisation fell by N17 billion or 0.12 percent to close to N14.643 trillion from N14.660 trillion on Friday, following the massive losses recorded by 22 companies led by four insurance stocks.

Analysis of the day’s activity showed that 22 losers emerged in the day against 26 gainers.

Two insurance stocks – NEM Insurance Plc and Custodian and Allied Plc – led the top losers, declining by 4.91 per cent and 4.73 percent to close at N2.52 from N2.65 and N5.00 from N5.25 respectively.

Sterling Bank Plc trailed behind, depreciating by 4.73 per cent to close at N1.41 from N1.48; International Energy Insurance was down 4.55 percent to N0.42 from N0.44, while Equity Assurance Plc recorded four percent decline to close at N0.24 from N0.25 per share.

According to analysts at Cordros Capital,  the sideways trading, which has persisted for some weeks, suggests cautious trading by investors and raises cause for concern.

Notwithstanding, they are of the view that encouraging macroeconomic outlook continues to strengthen the bias for positive equity returns in the medium to long term.