Nigerian Equities market close in the Red, investors lost N9.2bn

Sell-offs in ZENITH (-1.8%), DANGSUGAR (-5.9%) and ETI (-2.5%) dragged the benchmark index lower by 7bps to settle at 25,532.74 points. Consequently, market capitalisation fell to ₦13.3tn as investors lost ₦9.2bn while YTD loss worsened to -4.9%. Activity level was mixed as volume traded rose 9.2% to 231.2m units while value traded decreased 13.3% to ₦2.1bn. The most traded stocks by volume were FCMB (33.5m units), ACCESS (30.4m units), and ZENITH (25.1m units) while GUARANTY (₦506.3m), ZENITH (₦418.0m) and MTNN (₦322.0m) led by value.

Performance across sectors was mixed as 2 of the 6 indices under our coverage gained, 2 lost and 2 closed flat. The Insurance and Consumer Goods indices rose 1.3% and 0.1% respectively due to buying interest in WAPIC (+9.1%), AIICO (+4.7%), FLOURMILL (+1.5%) and CADBURY (+4.2%). On the other hand, the Banking and Oil & Gas indices lost 0.4% and 0.2% respectively on account of sell pressures in ZENITH (-1.8%), ETI (-2.5%) and OANDO (-2.1%). Finally, the Industrial Goods and AFR-ICT indices closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 1.5x from the 0.9x recorded previously as 17 stocks gained against the 11 that lost. The top gainers were INTBREW (+10.0%), WAPIC (+9.1%) and NPFMCRFBK (+8.3%) while TRIPPLEG (-9.1%), CAVERTON (-8.6%) and DANGSUGAR (-5.9%) lost the most. Given the sustained bearish sentiment, we expect the equities market to close the week in the red.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 17th September 2020