Bears hold sway at stock market trading

Today, the domestic bourse sustained its losing streak as sell-pressure on GTCO (-1.6%), ETI (-8.6%), and SEPLAT (-3.6%) dragged the benchmark index by 0.3% to 43,108.77 points. Consequently, the YTD return moderated to 7.0% while market capitalisation shed ₦71.1bn to ₦22.5tn. Trading activity improved as the volume and value traded rose 9.4% and 12.5% respectively to 266.1m units and ₦4.2bn. HONYFLOUR (52.5m units), GTCO (23.0m units), and ZENITH (22.9m units) led the volume chart while SEPLAT (₦1.2bn), GTCO (₦578.6m), and ZENITH (₦559.0m) led by value.

Performance across sectors within our coverage was mixed but negatively skewed as 3 indices lost, 1 index gained, while the AFR-ICT and Industrial Goods indices closed flat. The Oil & Gas index led the laggards, down 1.6% following price depreciation in SEPLAT (-3.6%) and MRS (-9.9%). Similarly, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices dipped 1.2% and 1.1% respectively due to sell-offs in GTCO (-1.6%) and INTBREW (-1.9%). Conversely, the Insurance index gained 0.6% following buying interest in AIICO (+8.5%) and REGALINS (+8.3%). 

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), weakened to 0.6x from 1.2x as 14 stocks advanced while 24 stocks declined. HONYFLOUR (+9.8%), AIICO (+8.5%), and REGALINS (+8.3%) led gainers while MRS (-9.9%), CHAMS (-8.7%), and ETI (-8.6%) led decliners. We expect the market to post a mild gain in the final trading session as investors take advantage of downbeat prices.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 25th November 2021