NSE Weekly: 43% drop in trade volume depletes value of stocks by N130bn

Nigerian equities shed N130.017 billion this week as the liquidity crisis in the market aggravated, setting in motion a 43 per cent fall in turnover.

Funds have been steadily exiting the stock market because high yields on government bonds and recently auctioned treasury bills seem to offer better returns at the moment.

But analysts at Investdata Consulting Limited believe stocks are experiencing a moment of market correction after reaching certain high levels in price movement especially in January. They see the current low prices as an opportunity for smart fund managers to leverage.

Also, the dividend yield of many stocks is above eight per cent, offering chances for good positioning before companies begin to issue their audited earnings reports.

All the major market performance indicators declined. Yet, a positive breadth was posted as 39 gainers emerged against 33 losers. The All-Share Index and market capitalisation respectively fell by 0.63 per cent and 0.61 per cent. The former closed at 40,186.70 index points just and the latter at N21.026 trillion.

Trade volume of 1.541 billion shares worth N18.235 billion was recorded in 22,752 deals relative to the 2.683 billion shares valued at N23.662 billion posted in 27,844 deals last week.

The Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 1.099 billion shares worth N11.110 billion traded in 12,544 deals. Specifically, it added 71.35 per cent and 60.92 per cent to the total equity volume and value respectively.

The Consumer Goods industry came next, trading 133.156 million shares worth N2.327 billion in 3,941 transactions. The Conglomerates sector was third, trading 121.143 million shares priced at N263.219 million in 839 deals.

As regards index movement, all indices dropped save for the NSE Banking, NSE AFR Div Yield, NSE MERI Value, NSE Oil/Gas and NSE Growth Indices. These climbed by 0.54 per cent, 1.20 per cent, 0.27 per cent, 4.60 per cent and 5.43 per cent in that order. The NSE ASeM and NSE Sovereign Bond Indices closed flat.