Profit-taking drags equities market … ASI down 0.9%

Sell-offs in MTNN (-1.7%), BUACEMENT (-1.8%) and ZENITH (-2.7%) dragged the All-Share Index by 91bps to close at 24,954.25 points. As a result, market capitalisation fell ₦119.2bn to settle at ₦13.0tn while YTD loss worsened to -7.0%. Activity level waned as volume and value traded declined 29.5% and 52.7% respectively to 237.6m units and ₦1.6bn. The most active stocks by volume were FBNH (24.4m units), ZENITH (24.1m units) and FCMB (19.5m units) while ZENITH (₦392.4m), GUARANTY (₦341.0m) and FBNH (₦128.8m) led the value chart.  

Across sectors, performance was bearish as only the Insurance index (+0.9%) appreciated as a result of gains in MANSARD (+8.1%) and CORNERSTONE (+9.8%). The Banking (-1.9%) and Industrial Goods (-1.4%) indices led the laggards due to price weakness in ZENITH (-2.7%), UBA (-5.2%) and BUACEMENT. The AFR-ICT (-1.0%) and Oil & Gas (-0.3%) indices also declined, following price declines in MTNN (-1.7%) and OANDO (-3.1%). Lastly, the Consumer Goods index slightly declined by 3bps on the back of a loss in INTBREW (-1.1%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) declined to 0.6x from the 0.9x recorded in the previous session as 16 stocks advanced against 25 decliners. The best performing stocks were REDSTAREX (+10.0%), FIDSON (+10.0%) and CORNERSTONE (+9.8%) while PRESTIGE (-10.0%), NEIMETH (-9.7%) and AIICO (-9.3%) lost the most. We expect profit-taking activities to weigh on the performance of the equities market this week.

Market Statistics for Monday, 15th June 2020 

Source: Afrinvest