Profit-Taking spurs losses on equities market, ASI down 0.1%

Today, Nigeria equities market reversed gains recorded in the prior three sessions in the week as profit-taking in ACCESS (-3.2%), UBA (-2.6%), and STANBIC (-0.7%) dragged the All-Share Index down by 8bps to 38,469.87 points. Consequently, the YTD loss worsened to -4.5% while market capitalisation fell by ₦26.7bn to ₦20.0tn. Trading activity was mixed as volume traded fell by 19.5% to 238.2m units while value traded rose by 0.8% to ₦2.6bn. The most traded stocks by volume were TRANSCORP (34.4m units), COURTVILLE (26.4m units), and ZENITH (23.7m units) while ZENITH (₦590.3m), GTCO (₦363.0m), and SEPLAT (₦315.4m) led by value.

Performance was mixed across the sectors under our coverage, as 3 indices gained, 2 indices lost, while the AFR-ICT index remained flat. The Oil & Gas index led the gainers, up 1.2% on the back of buying interest in SEPLAT (+2.7%). In the same vein, Insurance and Industrial Goods indices rose 14bps and 4bps respectively, driven by price appreciation in NEM (+10.0%) and WAPCO (+0.7%). Conversely, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices declined by 1.0% and 14bps respectively due to sell-pressure on ACCESS (-3.2%), UBA (-2.6%), NASCON (-4.1%), and DANGSUGAR (-0.8%).

Investors sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), weakened to 0.8x (from 1.7x) as 12 stocks gained while 16 stocks lost.  NEM (+10.0%), COURTVILLE (+9.5%), and NAHCO (+5.7%) led gainers while PRESTIGE (-10.0%), PHARMDEKO (-9.7%) and UPL (-7.9%) led decliners. In the final trading session for the week, we expect profit-taking sentiment to be extended barring any fresh positive catalyst.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 8th July 2021 

Source: Afrinvest