Equities resume week on negative trend
…as Dangote Cement share losses N170bn

 

The equities market began the week on a negative note with a loss of 1.24 percent at the close of today’s trading session.
Market capitalization similarly dropped to N13.508 trillion from N13.678 trillion. However, market breadth closed flat with 19 counters on both gainer’s and loser’s chart.
Apart from NSE Banking Index gained 29 basic points and NSE Alternative Securities Market (ASEM) which maintained its horizontal stance, all other sector performance indices closed in the red zone.
Today’s loss is attributed to sell off on Dangote Cement Plc amounting to 73.14 percent of today’s total volume and 97.04 percent of total value traded.
PRESCO Plc top the gainers chart with 8.81 percent at closing price of N66.17 today followed by UAC-Property Plc at 4.66 percent, Champion Breweries Plc at 5.00 percent, Vitafoam Plc at 5.00 percent and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc at 4.90 percent. On the other hand, Cadbury Plc, Eterna Plc, International Breweries Plc, National Salt Company of Nigeria Plc and Caverton Plc topped the losers chart. Dangote Cement Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and UBA Plc were the top traded stocks in terms of volume and value.
Market activities in terms of volume ascended by 76.86 percent from previous level of 425 million to close at 752 million today and value advanced by 13845.55 percent to close at 1.28 trillion from previous close of 9.17 billion.
Meanwhile, some 550 million shares of Dangote Cement were sold at N225.7 each in a one-off stock market deal valued at $350 million.
At the end of today’s trading, the share of Dangote Cement dropped N170.405 billion in value. The stock with 17,040,507,405 share outstanding started today’s trading at N240 kobo per share to close at N230.00 kobo per share.
Africa’s biggest cement maker which is owned by Aliko Dangote has been selling small stakes to increase its free float, which is well below the Nigerian stock exchange’s required level.
The cement maker sold 128.5 million shares at N210 each last month. And in August, it sold a 2.3 percent stake to foreign investors in a deal valued at N86.1 billion.