Bears open stock trading week as investors lost ₦18.7bn

The domestic market closed on a negative note today, following selloffs in PRESCO (- 10.0%), FBNH (-2.3%), and ACCESSCORP (-2.8%). As such, the benchmark index shed 10bps to 49,629.43 points, YTD return moderated to 16.2% (previously: 16.3%), while market capitalisation declined by ₦18.7bn to ₦26.8tn. Also, activity level dampened as volume and value traded waned by 71.9% and 58.8% respectively to 211m units and ₦2.2bn.

Across our coverage sectors, performance was mixed as 3 indices gained, 2 lost while the Insurance index closed flat. The Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices led decliners, down 0.6% and 0.4% respectively on account of price decline in FLOURMILL (-6.3%), DANGSUGAR (-4.2%), and SEPLAT (-0.7%). Conversely, the AFR-ICT and Industrial Goods indices appreciated by 0.2% apiece, on the back of buying interest in MTNN (+1.0%) and BUACEMENT (+0.5%). Similarly, the Banking index advanced 0.1% due to price uptick in ZENITH (+2.1%), and FCMB (+4.2%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, weakened to -0.07x from 0.01x as 12 stocks advanced, 17 declined while 75 closed flat. We expect the negative performance to persist in the next trading session as market remains short of positive triggers