Sell pressures in GUARANTY (-4.6%), STANBIC (-4.3%) and UNILEVER (-6.4%) weighed on market performance dragging the All Share Index (ASI) 88bps lower to 34,110.22 points.
As a result, YTD loss contracted further to -10.8% while N111.0bn was wiped off market capitalization (current value – N12.5tn).
In the same vein, activity level fell as volume and value traded slid 17.9% and 4.2% to 164.5m units and N2.1bn respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were GUARANTY (23.9m), UBA (15.2m) and SKYE (11.7m) while GUARANTY(N860.2m), STANBIC (N236.2) and ZENITH (N210.1m) led by value.
Negative Sector Performance
Across sectors we track, performance was negative as 3 of 5 indices closed southwards.
The Banking and Consumer Goods indices shed 2.5% and 1.1% respectively following sell-offs in GUARANTY (-4.6%), ZENITH (-2.1%) UNILEVER (-6.4%) and INTBREW (-3.0%). Similarly, losses in WAPIC (-10.0%) and AIICO (-5.6%) dragged the Insurance index 0.2% lower.
On the flip side, the Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices gained, rising 0.4% and 0.1% respectively due to price appreciation in DANGCEM (-0.5%), WAPCO (-0.4%) and FORTE (-5.0%).
Investor Sentiment Remains Soft
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) softened to 0.6x from 0.8x recorded yesterday as 19 stocks advanced against 31 that declined.
The best performers were AGLEVENT (+10.0%), FIDSON (+9.1%) and SOVRENINS (+8.7%) while WAPIC (-10.0%), ETERNA (-9.4%) and LAWUNION (-9.1%) were the worst performers for the day. Due to the absence of positive drivers, we maintain our bearish outlook for the market in the near term.
