Sell pressures drag equities performance at NSE

The domestic equities market closed southward as the benchmark index declined 2bps to close at 24,750.06 points due to sell-offs in DANGSUGAR (-9.9%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.7%) and ETI (-5.1%). As a result, market capitalisation declined ₦2.0bn to ₦12.9tn while YTD loss settled at -7.8%. Activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 34.7% and 17.4% to 167.9m units and ₦1.5bn respectively. The most active stocks by volume were JAPAULOIL (25.0m units), FBNH (12.1m units) and GUARANTY (11.2m units) while GUARANTY (₦253.5m), DANGCEM (₦251.2m) and MTNN (₦153.6m) led by value.

Across sectors, performance was bearish as 4 of the 6 indices under our coverage closed in the red. The Consumer Goods and Insurance indices led laggards, down 1.4% and 1.3% respectively following price declines in DANGSUGAR (-9.9%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.7%), AIICO (-7.2%) and MANSARD (-1.1%). Similarly, the Banking and Industrial Goods indices declined 0.6% and 0.2% respectively due to sell-offs in ETI (-5.1%), ACCESS (-1.5%) and WAPCO (-2.2%). Conversely, the AFR-ICT and Oil & Gas index gained, up 0.9% and 0.2% respectively as a result of price appreciation in MTNN (+1.6%) and OANDO (+2.0%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) was unchanged at 0.4x as 9 stocks advanced against 23 decliners. The best performing stocks were UAC-PROP (+7.7%), TRANSCORP (+2.9%) and OANDO (+2.0%) while UNITYBNK (-10.0%), DANGSUGAR (-9.8%) and IKEJAHOTEL (-9.6%) lost the most. We continue to see sell pressures dominate the market as investor sentiment remains weak. Nonetheless, we maintain our mixed performance outlook for the week.

Market Statistics for Tuesday, 23rd June 2020 

Source: Afrinvest