Sell-offs in Dangcem, NBL, Unilever drag stock market indices 

Sell-offs in bellwethers – DANGCEM (-2.4%) NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.7%) and UNILEVER (-2.2%) weighed on performance at the stock market as the All Share Index (ASI) shed 79 bps to 32,454.03 points. Consequently, YTD loss declined to -15.1 per cent while market capitalisation decreased by N94.1 billion to N11.9 trillion. Similarly, activity level waned as volume and value traded fell 25.9 per cent and 57.7 per cent to 136.7 million units and N1.4 billion respectively.  FCMB (38.4m units) UBA (20.8m units) and FIDELITY (19.1m units) led the top traded stocks by volume while NESTLE (N400.0m), DANGCEM (N185.2m) and UBA (N172.5m) were the top traded stocks by value.

3 of 5 indices at the stock market declined, 1 appreciated and 1 closed flat. Leading today’s laggards was the Industrial Goods index which shed 1.3 per cent due to sell-offs in DANGCEM (-2.4%). The Consumer Goods index followed suit, down 0.6 per cent as NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.7%) and UNILEVER (-2.2%) recorded losses. In the same vein, the Insurance index lost 0.5% as NIGERINS (-0.6%) and AIICO (-0.6%) witnessed sell pressures. On the flip side, the Banking index emerged lone gainer, up 0.4% as investors sought bargains in ZENITH (+1.4%) and GUARANTY (+0.6%) while the Oil & Gas index closed the day flat.

Investor sentiment measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved to 1.1x from 0.9x  recorded yesterday as 15 tickers gained while 14 declined. The top performers were DIAMOND (+5.1%), CUTIX (+4.9%) and DANGSUGAR (+4.3%) while NIGERINS (-8.8%), MBENEFIT (-7.1%) and SOVERNINS (-4.4%) were the worst performing stocks. We expect a rebound by the end of the week as we anticipate bargain hunting in bellwethers that have declined in the last two trading sessions.

Market Statistics Wednesday, 3rd October 2018

Market Cap (N’bn)                                    11,848.2

Market Cap (US$’bn)                                      38.7

NSE All-Share Index                               32,454.03

Daily Performance %                                      (0.8)

Week Performance %                                    (1.5)

YTD Performance %                                     (15.1)

Daily Volume (Million)                                  136.7

Daily Value (N’bn)                                            1.4

Daily Value (US$’m)                                         4.7