Losses in the local bourse extended into the second consecutive day as the All Share Index (“ASI”) inched southwards by 0.2% following sustained declines in DANGCEM (-0.8%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.3%) and GUARANTY (-0.8%).
Consequently, market capitalisation fell by N26.9bn to N11.9tn while YTD return moderated to 2.0%. On the other hand, activity level was mixed as volume traded advanced by 4.9% to 218.5m units while value traded fell 1.7% to N2.7bn.
The top traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (34.8m units), ACCESS (29.2m units) and FBNH (29.0m units) while top traded by value were ZENITH (N859.7m), GUARANTY (N850.1m) and FBNH (N235.9m).
Negative Sector Performance
Performance across sectors was bearish as all sectors under our coverage closed in the red. The Insurance and Oil & Gas indices led declines, retreating 1.0% apiece due to losses in CORNERSTONE (-8.0%), MBENEFIT (-8.0%), AIICO (-1.4%), OANDO (-1.8%) and MOBIL (-5.6%).
Similarly, the Industrial Goods index extended losses, down 0.4% due to sustained profit taking activities in DANGCEM (-0.8%) while the Consumer Goods index lost 0.2% based on price depreciation in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.3%), PZ (-8.3%) and FLOURMILL (-4.8%).
Also, the Banking index reversed prior-day trading gains, down 0.1% as investors sold position in GUARANTY (-0.8%), ACCESS (-1.6%) and DIAMOND (-2.4%).
Investor Sentiment Worsens
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) fell to 0.3x from 0.4x recorded the previous trading session.
The top gainers for the day were CADBURY (+7.8%), DANGFLOUR (+4.1%) and STANBIC (+3.0%) while the least performing stocks were UPL (-9.8%), UCAP (-9.1%) and ROYALEX (-8.6%).
We maintain our outlook for a positive close to the benchmark index tomorrow based on investor’s bargain hunting and positioning ahead of dividend announcements.
