THE sell pressure of equities in the market, in the last three weeks now, has no doubt continued to force down the value of the twin market even as most investors are of the believe that the rebound of the market will take long.The Nigerian market has not been able to sustain the rallies witnessed in the marginal climb of equity value in the first half of 2011 due to a fresh cycle of negative news.Baring his mind on the nationalisation of the banks which seem to have depressed the stock market, the Managing Director of Lamberth Securities, Mr. David Adonri, said at the weekend that as a result of dormancy in secondary bond market, when equities decline, retail investors could not take defensive positions by seamlessly migrating their exited assets to bonds. Adonri said that this was a major challenge the regulators need to address urgently to ensure a stable capital market.According to him, the current bear run witnessed in the capital market was due to heightened divestment by foreign investors who are moving out of the equities market in anticipation of the slowdown in global economy.The inconsistencies in policy pronouncements and actions of the market regulators have also contributed to the erosion of the gains recorded by the equities market in the past few months. Indicators in the market ended by almost 20 per cent uptick on index return last year and entered the New Year with about 10 per cent gain on the composite index in January. Since February, the market has nosedived, erasing year-to-date gains. The stock trader said the enthusiasm that greeted the take-off of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) operations and the first phase of bond-for-debt swap with the rescued banks have since been moderated by a new cycle of negative news and concerns about the general market direction.Cumulative price movement The NSE All-Share Index depreciated by 747.15 points or 3.33 per cent to close on last Friday at 21,976.87 while the market capitalisation of the 195 First -Tier equities decreased to N7.03 trillion. The NSE-30 Index depreciated by 32.41 points or 3.25 per cent to close at 976.39. Previous week, ASI and NSE-30 Indices depreciated by 0.22 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively. All of the four sectorial indices depreciated during the week compared with three that so depreciated during the preceding week. The NSE Food & Beverage Index depreciated by 18.77 points or 2.41 per cent to close at 766.12, the NSE Banking Index depreciated by 10.97 points or 3.42 per cent to close at 309.79, the NSE Insurance Index depreciated by 2.09 points or 1.38 per cent to close at 149.12 and the NSE Oil & Gas Index depreciated by 2.75 points or 1.05 per cent to close at 258.27..How equities fared in the weekMonday's transactions in equities further saw the value of investment whittling down with both market performance indicators, the market capitalisation and the All-Share Index further plummeting by 0.78 per cent.Specifically, the All-share index depreciated by 176.40 basis points to close at 22,547.62 from the opening index of 22,724.02, while investors' market capitalisation drop N57 billion to close at N7.212 trillion as against the N7.269 trillion last Friday.A review of the trading price chart showed that Guinness topped the gainers chart, appreciating by N2 to close at N215 per share. Redstarex followed with 11kobo to close at N2.76 per share while Transcorp rose by 4k to close at 88k per share.Conversely, Flour Mill led the price losers' table, depreciating by N1.45 to close at N84.05 per share. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) dropped by 72k to close at N13.72 per share while Dangote Flour dipped by 68k to close at N13.04 per share.As usual, the banking sub-sector remained the investors' delight in volume terms, trading 145.31 million shares worth N1.15 billion in 2,103 deals.The insurance sub-sector followed with 16.20 million shares valued at N11.83 million traded in 143 deals.Heavy price losses by major equity transactions continued on Tuesday even as market capitalisation drop further by N75billion.Specifically, the All Share Index dipped by 234.39 points or 1.04 per cent, to close at 22,313.23 from the market opening index of 22,547.62.Also, the market capitalisation lost massively by N75billion to close at N7.137 trillion as against the N7.212 trillion on Monday.On the activity chart, 258.81 million shares valued N3.02 billion were traded in 4,538deals against 183.60 million shares valued N1.67 billion traded in 3,545 deals on August 22.Conoil Plc topped the gainers pack, appreciating by 4.98 per cent to close at N34.36 per share.NCR grew 4.75 per cent to close at N3.75 per share while Ecobank rose by 13k to close at N2.89 per share. Ecobank, Cutix, Custodian &Allied insurance added 4.71, 4.52 and 2.32 per share to close at N2.89, N2.08 and N2.65 per share.PZ Cussons led the price losers table, depreciating by 4.98 per cent to close at N29.75 per shareThe banking sub-sector still remained the most active sub-sector, trading 183.49 million shares worth N1.04 billion in 2,800 deals.The insurance sub-sector followed with 29.02 million shares valued at N21.63 million traded in 153 deals.Robust trading in the shares of Goldlink Insurance drove the sub-sector with 12.96 million shares worth N6.48 million in nine deals.The Breweries sub-sector ranked third, trading 16.59 million shares worth N1.43 billion in 236 deals.The shares of Nigerian Breweries (NB) boosted trading in the sub-sector with investors staking N1.39 billion on 16.44 million shares in 164 deals.Investors apathy towards stocks purchase on the floor of the NSE on Wednesday saw turnover of traded stocks sliding to as low a 165.1 million shares valued N1.1billion.Activities in the market had on Tuesday closed on a high of 517.6million ordinary shares valued at N6billion.A further review of trading Wednesday showed that the All-share index however dropped marginally by 5.009 basis points or 0.02 per cent from 22,313.23 recorded on Monday to 22,308.22 while market capitalisation slide by N2billion from N7,137trillion to N7,135trillion.The banking subsector remained the most active stock in volume terms with 125million shares worth N641million in 2,624 deals, followed by the insurance subsector which traded 9.3million units valued at N6.4million in 123deals.The conglomerates ranked third with 7.2million units worth N77million in 242deals.A breakdown of activities in the banking subsector indicated that transactions in the shares of Fin Bank buoyed activities in the subsector with 40million shares worth N20million in five deals, while Guaranty Trust Bank trailed with 16.5million units valued at N208million in 684million.The insurance sub sector was energised by activities in the shares of NEM insurance and Goldlink insurance with 2.1million and 2million units worth N1million and N1million.On the price movement chart, 19 companies appreciated in price, led by National Salt Company of Nigeria (NASCON) and Fidson Health care with five per cent to close at N4.41 and N1.68 per share while Diamond Bank followed with 4.99 per cent to close at N4.21 per share.Prestige, NCR and Stanbic IBTC added 4.91, 4.80 and 4.57 per share to close at N1.71, N3.93 and N9.84 per share.On the other hand, Unity bank led 18 others on the losers chart with five per cent to close at N0.57 per share while Honeywell lost 4.97 per cent to close at N4.40 per share.Transaction on the NSE continued on bearish trend on Thursday, as the market capitalisation depreciated by N79 billion or 1.1 per cent to close at N7,056 trillion from N7,135 trillion recorded on Wednesday while the All-Share Index equally dropped by 1.1 per cent or 247.01 basis points to close at 22,061.21 form 22,308.22 index points.On the price movement chart, 15 companies depreciated in stocks while 20 others gained in value.Dangote Cement led the losers table with 4.99 per cent, to close at N111.11 per share. Dangote Flour followed with 4.92 per cent to close at N11.20 per share while AIICO shed 4.41 per cent to close at 65 kobo per cent.On the gainers table, RT Briscoe topped the list with 4.62 per cent to close at N1.36 per share. Dangote Sugar followed with 4.45 per cent to close at N4.46 per share while CI Leasing added 4.26 per cent to close at 98 kobo per share.With transaction exchange in 2,476 deals, the banking subsector fuelled with the activities in the shares of Fin Bank and Stanbic IBTC Bank dominated in volume terms with 266.7 million shares worth N1.09 billion while the Insurance subsector followed with 14.4 million units worth N11.5 in 138 deals.The Conglomerates Sub sector ranked third with 8.05 million units worth N311.2 million in 456 deals. On the whole, investors exchanged 312.9 million shares, worth N1.5 billion in 4,117 deals.The market closed the week in the red, as the twin market indicators, the All-Share Index and market capitalisation dropped by 0.38 per each.Specifically, the market capitalisation loss N27 billion to close the week at N7,029 trillion while the All-Share Index slipped by 84.3 basis points to close the week at 21,976.87 points.
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