Investors lost N135.8bn as stock market suffers decline… NSE ASI down 1.0%

Investors at the Nigerian Stock Exchange lost N135.8 billion as the benchmark index continued on its downward trend. The All Share Index shed 1.0 per cent to settle at 38,534.64 points while Year to date YTD return retreated to 43.4 per cent. Accordingly, market capitalisation fell by N135.8 billion to N13.4 trillion. Price depreciations in large cap stocks – GUARANTY (-4.8%), ZENITH (-3.9%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.6%) and DANGCEM (-0.5%) were the major drags to market performance. Similarly, activity level waned as volume and value traded declined 30.0 per cent and 83.6 per cent to 323.9 million units and N4.4 billion respectively.

Sector performance was largely bearish as all indices save for the Oil & Gas index which appreciated 0.1 per cent following gains in MOBIL (+0.9%), closed in the red. The Banking index depreciated the most, down 2.2 per cent on the back of losses in GUARANTY (-4.8%) and ZENITH (-3.9%). The Industrial Goods index trailed, falling 1.7 per cent as investors took profit in DANGCEM (-0.5%) and WAPCO (-4.3%). Similarly, price depreciations in NIGERIAN Breweries (-2.6%) and CADBURY (-5.0%) dragged the Consumer Goods index 0.5% lower. In the same vein, the Insurance index trended 0.1 per cent southwards due to losses in LINKASSURE (-3.2%).

Market breadth (advancers/decliners ratio)– which measures investor sentiment – weakened to 0.8x from 0.9x recorded yesterday, as 19 stocks advanced against 24 stocks that declined. The top performers for the day were BERGER (+4.9%), FCMB (+4.9%) and DANGFLOUR (+4.9%) while PRESCO (-5.0%), CADBURY (-5.0%) and GUARANTY (-4.8%) were the worst performers. Today’s market performance can be largely attributed to sustained profit taking in large cap stocks. However, we expect a kickback in subsequent trading sessions in anticipation of the usual year-end rally.

Market Statistics Wednesday, 13th December 2017
Market Cap (N’bn)                                                         13,420.4
Market Cap (US$’bn)                                                            43.9
NSE All-Share Index                                                     38,534.64
Daily Performance %                                                            (1.0)
Week Performance %                                                           (1.4)
YTD Performance %                                                             43.4
Daily Volume (Million)                                                         323.9
Daily Value (N’bn)                                                                   4.4
Daily Value (US$’m)                                                               14.4