DANGCEM Drags Benchmark Index… NSE ASI Down 1.6%

The local bourse sustained a downtrend at the end of today’s trading session as the All Share Index fell 1.6% to 37,933.70 points while YTD return contracted to 41.2%. Notwithstanding, investors gained N76.9bn in value as market capitalization settled at N13.5tn.

The day’s performance is attributed to sell offs in DANGCEM (-1.7%) as ex-DANGCEM, market performed positively (+2.6%). Activity level was also mixed as volume traded fell 10.7% to 289.3m units while value traded inched 41.4% higher to N6.2bn.

Oil & Gas Index Emerges Lone Gainer 2 days in a Row
Performance across sectors was largely bearish as all indices save the Oil & Gas index closed in the red. The Oil & Gas index rose 3.8% largely on the back of a rally in SEPLAT (+7.7%). On the flip side, the Industrial Goods index led losers, down 3.1% on account of  a dip in DANGCEM (-1.7%).

The Banking and Insurance indices followed closely, falling 1.0% and 0.6% respectively as investors booked profit in ACCESS (-3.8%), UBN (-5.0%),CUSTODYINS (-4.8%) and NEM (-4.8%). In the same vein, the Consumer Goods index was dragged 0.4% lower due to sell offs in FLOURMILL (-9.7%) NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-0.5%) and DANGSUGAR (-0.9%).

Market Breadth Weakens Further
Market breadth (advancers/decliners ratio) – which measures investor sentiment – weakened further to 0.3x from 0.8x recorded yesterday as 10 stocks advanced relative to 30 stocks that declined. The top performers were SEPLAT (+7.7%), CAVERTON (+3.8%) and JBERGER (+3.7%) while FLOURMILL (-9.7%), UBN (-5.0%) and NEM (-4.8%) led laggards.

With the ongoing profit taking in the equity market especially in Banking and Industrial Goods counters, we expect a rebound in market sentiment on the last trading day.

Market Statistics: Thursday, 14th December 201