Equities Market Returns To Losing Streak After Shedding N57bn
The equities market has returned to its losing streak after two days of gain, shedding N57bn at the end of trading on Wednesday.
Stock investors recorded gains worth N131bn on Friday and Tuesday as the stock market sustained its gaining streak.
The market had witnessed a rebound from its losing trend on Friday, gaining N62bn as the market capitalisation increased from N12.748tn to N12.810tn.
After a one-day public holiday marking Eid-el Maulud, trading resumed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Tuesday, closing with N69bn gain as the market capitalisation advanced to N12.879tn.
However, the bears regained grip on the equities market on Wednesday as the All Share Index fell by 0.4 per cent to 26,357.61 basis points, dragging the year-to-date return down to -16.1 per cent.
Investors lost N57bn as the market capitalisation of equities dropped from N12.879tn on Tuesday to N12.822tn on Wednesday.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said major price weaknesses were recorded in Dangote Cement Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc.
Activity level advanced as volume and value traded rose by 61.4 per cent and 55.3 per cent to 610.576 million units and N11.105bn, respectively.
The top traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank Plc (336.6 million units), Access Bank Plc (73.8 million units) and Nigerian Breweries Plc (63.8 million units) while Zenith Bank (N5.8bn), Nigerian Breweries (N3bn) and Access Bank (N714.2m) led by value.
Performance across sectors was poor as four sectors recorded losses while one gained and one closed flat.
The banking index emerged the lone gainer, up by 0.11 per cent following gains in Zenith Bank, Access Bank and FBN Holdings Plc.
Conversely, the oil and gas index led laggards, down by 2.98 per cent due to price depreciation in Seplat Petroleum and Total Nigeria Plc.
Similarly, the insurance and industrial goods indices declined by 1.01 per cent and 0.95 per cent, respectively, on the back of major losses recorded in Continental Reinsurance Plc, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, Dangote Cement Plc and Lafarge Africa Plc.
The consumer goods index declined by 0.40 per cent due to sell-offs in Unilever Nigeria Plc and PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc.
The AFR-ICT index closed flat.
Investor sentiment weakened as market breadth (advance/decline ratio) declined to 0.8x from the 1.6x recorded previously as 13 stocks gained against 16 decliners.
The top five gainers with respective gains of 9.09 per cent, 7.14 per cent, 7.14 per cent, 3.83 per cent and 3.14 per cent were Ikeja Hotel Plc, A.G Leventis Nigeria Plc, Jaiz Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Access Bank.
The top five losers were Total Nigeria, PZ Cussons, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, Unilever and Oando Plc, whose respective share prices shed 9.98 per cent, 9.91 per cent, 7.14 per cent, 5.61 per cent and 3.90 per cent.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said as sentiment remained weak towards the stock market, they maintained a bearish outlook in the absence of catalysts to spur investors’ appetite for equities.
