Bearish sentiment persists in Nigerian Equities Market as investors lost N111.6bn

The selloffs in NESTLE (-10.0%), UNILEVER (-7.7%) and ZENITH (-0.8%) has dragged the All Share Index (ASI) 84bps lower to settle at 27,085.69 points. YTD loss worsened to -13.8 per cent while N111.6 billion was lost in value as market capitalisation fell to N13.2 trillion. Accordingly, activity level weakened as volume and value traded waned 14.0 per cent and 1.9 per cent to 151.2 

million units and N2.5 billion respectively.  The top traded stocks by volume were GUARANTY (44.6m units), FBNH (17.4m units) and FIDELITY (11.2m units) while top traded stocks by value were GUARANTY (N1.2bn), DANGCEM (N300.5m) and NESTLE (N205.1m).

Performance across sectors under our coverage was mixed as 3 of 6 indices closed in the red. The Consumer Goods index declined the most as selloffs in NESTLE (-4.9%) and UNILEVER (-7.7) dragged the index lower by 5.4 per cent. Similarly, the Insurance and Oil & Gas indices lost 0.4 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively on the back of losses in CONTINSURE (-3.1%) and OANDO (-1.6%). Conversely, the Industrial Goods index rose 0.8 per cent following buying interest in CCNN (+5.8%) while gains in ETI (+8.3%) and FIDELITY (+2.4%) buoyed the Banking index (+0.2%). Finally, the AFR-ICT closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) advanced to 0.7x from 0.5x recorded yesterday as 12 stocks advanced against 18 stocks that declined. The best performing stocks were NIGERINS (+10.0%), NEIMETH (+9.1%) and CAVERTON  (+8.3%) while NESTLE  (-10.0%), BETAGLASS (-10.0%) and COURTVILLE (-9.1%) were the worst performers. We believe the bearish momentum would be sustained in subsequent sessions as investors maintain a risk-off approach towards equities.

Market Statistics Thursday, 3rd October, 2019