Stock market records losses… ASI down 15bps

Today, sell pressure on ETERNA (-9.4%), CUTIX (-2.0%), and WAPCO (-2.2%) drove the local bourse southward. Consequently, the NGX All-Share Index declined 15bps to close at 38,911.31 points, YTD loss worsened to -3.4% while market capitalisation decreased ₦29.7bn to ₦20.3tn. Trading activity weakened as volume and value traded fell 7.9% and 52.0% to 130.2m units and ₦1.4bn respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were ACCESS (24.8m units), UNIVINSURE (15.3m units), and ZENITH (8.5m units) while ACCESS (₦230.3m), ZENITH (₦200.7m), and GTCO (₦182.8m) led by value.

Performance was bearish across sectors under our coverage as 4 indices lost, 1 gained, while the AFR-ICT index closed flat. The Oil & Gas and Consumer Goods indices led the laggards, down 0.6% and 0.4% respectively due to price depreciation in ETERNA (-9.4%), OANDO (-1.5%), DANGSUGAR (-0.6%) and HONYFLOUR (-3.9%). Similarly, the Banking and Industrial Goods indices dipped 0.3% and 0.1% respectively on the back of sell-offs in FBNH (-1.3%), UBN (-3.0%), and WAPCO (-2.2%). Meanwhile, the Insurance index was the lone gainer, up 0.5% due to bargain hunting in SOVRENIN (+4.2%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), weakened to 0.6x from 0.7x as 10 stocks advanced while 16 stocks declined. UNITYBNK (+9.6%), FTNCOCOA (+8.7%), and CORNERST (+8.3%) led the gainers while ETERNA (-9.4%), SCOA (-9.4%), and INTBREW (-4.0%) led the laggards. In the final trading session, we expect profit-taking sentiment to be extended in the absence of any positive catalyst.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 16th September 2021