DANGCEM, Nestle, others drag down market index, investors lost N425.2bn

The bloodbath continued in today’s trading session as price decline in DANGCEM (-10.0%), NESTLE (-10.0%) and ZENITH (-7.7%) dragged the All-Share index down to 23,572.75 points. As a result, investors lost ₦425.2bn as market capitalisation fell to ₦12.3tn while the YTD loss worsened to -12.2%. Activity level surged as volume and value traded rose 134.0% and 319.4% to 1.4bn units and ₦17.6bn respectively. The most actively traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (412.4m units), GUARANTY (385.2m units) and FBNH (303.0m units) while GUARANTY (₦7.2bn), ZENITH (₦5.1bn) and NESTLE (₦1.8bn) led by value.

Performance across sector was bearish as 4 of 6 indices under our coverage closed negative. The Insurance index gained 2.2%, driven by buying interest in MANSARD (+7.7%), CORNERSTONE (+8.9%) and AIICO (+7.4%). Conversely, the Consumer (-4.7%) and Industrial Goods (-3.4%) indices led the laggards, following sell-offs in NESTLE (-10.0%), NASCON (-9.8%) and DANGCEM (-10.0%). Similarly, the Banking and Oil & Gas indices lost 2.7% and 0.7% respectively, trailing price depreciation in ZENITH (-10.0%), ACCESS (-6.5%) and OANDO (-4.1%). Lastly, the AFR-ICT index closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 0.9x from the 0.1x recorded in yesterday’s trading session as 18 stocks advanced against 20 that declined. The best performing stocks were CHAMS (+10.0%), COURTVILLE (+10.0%) and FCMB (+9.9%) while NESTLE (-10.0%), DANGCEM (-10.0%) and STERLING (-9.9%) were the worst performers. We maintain a bearish outlook on the equities market in the next trading session.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 11th March 2020