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On the eve of
Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary, the Index Committee of the
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has removed Oceanic Bank International,
Total Nigeria, and Mobil Oil Nigeria from the NSE-30 Index, which
represents the 30 most capitalised equities.

The Exchange, in a
statement on Thursday, said the Index Committee, which was set up to
monitor activities of the most capitalised stocks, agreed after due
deliberations, to remove the affected companies because they could not
rank among the current most capitalised equities.

“The Index
Committee held its quarterly meeting to review and rebalance the NSE-30
Index,” the statement said, adding that “new entrants and exiting
equities have been agreed on during the deliberations.” The committee
replaced the affected stocks with Ecobank, Ashaka Cement, and Cadbury
Nigeria. Ecobank, during the second quarter, was removed before it
bounced back.

The NSE-30 Index is
a price guide that measures the returns on investment from the change
in market value of stocks, in terms of their liquidity, capital
appreciation, and depreciation.

Market watchers say
this development will encourage all quoted companies to improve their
performances in order to rank in the most capitalised category.

However, a stockbroker, who would not like to be mentioned, said he sees more blue chip stocks “falling” from the NSE-30 Index.

“All is still not
well with the petroleum sector. Even the banking sector, in spite of
the recent reform, is still struggling to survive. So, I see more blue
chip companies falling from the list,” he said.

Index appreciates

Meanwhile, at the
close of trading this week, the NSE-30 Index appreciated by 23.11
points or 2.43 percent, to close at 976.80 basis points. Also, the NSE
All-Share Index, a market measuring parameter, appreciated by 361.50
points or 1.61 percent, to close on Thursday at 23,050.59 basis points,
while the market capitalisation of the 199 First -Tier equities
increased to N5.65 trillion.

A turnover of 1.1
billion shares, worth N10.5 billion in 21,572 deals, was recorded this
week, in contrast to a total of 971 million shares, valued at N8.36
billion, exchanged last week in 28,629 deals.

The banking
subsector was the most active during the week, in terms of turnover
volume, with 673.5 million shares worth N5.5 billion, exchanged by
investors in 12,225 deals. Volume in the banking subsector was largely
driven by activity in the shares of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Guaranty Trust
Bank, Zenith Bank, and First Bank of Nigeria.

Trading in the
shares of the four banks accounted for 388.25 million shares,
representing 57.65 percent of the subsector’s turnover.

The insurance
subsector, boosted by activity in the shares of Guaranty Trust
Assurance Plc and Intercontinental WAPIC Insurance Plc, followed on the
week’s activity chart with a turnover of 100.3 million shares, valued
at N94.1 million in 923 deals.

A total of 29
stocks appreciated in price during the week, lower than the 33 of the
preceding week. Nigerian Breweries led on the gainers’ table with a
gain of N5.38, to close at N74.58 per share, while Oando followed with
N2.95, to close at N59.95 per share.

On the flip side, a
total of 48 stocks depreciated in price during the week, higher than
the 47 of the preceding week. Total Nigeria led on the price losers’
table, dropping by N11.87, to close at N225.63 per share, while 7-Up
Bottling Company followed with a loss of N3.89, to close at N36.95 per
share.