Nigeria Stock Market capitalisation declines by N82.3bn

The equities market maintained its downtrend today as the benchmark index fell 40bps to 39,364.67 points due to price declines in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-3.9%), DANGSUGAR (-6.3%) and UBA (-3.6%). Consequently, YTD return worsened to -2.2% and market capitalisation declined by ₦82.3bn to ₦20.6tn. Trading activity improved as volume and value advanced by 101.8% and 14.4% respectively to 493.2m units and ₦4.7bn. The most traded stocks by volume were UNIVINSURE (83.3m units), ZENITH (38.6m units) and FBNH (31.3m units) while PRESCO (₦1.0bn), ZENITH (₦983.3m) and GUARANTY (₦486.4m) led by value.

Performance across sectors was poor as 4 of the 6 indices under our coverage closed southward. The Industrial Goods index emerged as the lone gainer, up 0.2% due to price appreciation in WAPCO (+3.6%). On the flip side, the Insurance and Banking indices lost 4.0% and 1.5% respectively due to declines in NEM (-10.0%), UBA (-3.6%) and ACCESS (-3.1%). Similarly, the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices closed lower by 1.5% and 0.6% respectively following sell pressures in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-3.9%), DANGSUGAR (-6.3%) and ARDOVA (-9.9%). Lastly, the AFR-ICT index closed flat. 

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) declined to 0.3x from the 0.6x recorded previously as 12 stocks advanced against 46 decliners. UPL (+9.9%), MORISON (+9.1%) and CAP (+5.3%) were the top gainers while FIDSON (-10.0%), NNFM (-10.0%) and ENAMELWA (-10.0%) were the top losers. We expect the market to close the week in the red due to persistent sell-offs.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 4th March 2021