Dangcen, Nestle, Nigeria Breweries dragged down market index

Losses in NESTLE (-3.2%), DANGCEM, (-0.6%) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.0%) – dragged the NSE All Share Index lower by 84bps to close at 40,677.61 points while the YTD return contracted to 6.4 per cent. As a result, investors lost N124.9 billion as market capitalisation fell to N14.7 trillion. Activity level, however, was mixed as volume of shares traded grew 2.0 per cent to 218.8 million units while value of shares traded dipped by 47.3 per cent to N2.2 billion. The top traded stocks by volume were UBA (60.4m), FCMB (17.5m) and SOVERENIN (12.4m) while the top traded stocks by value were UBA (N706.6m), NESTLE (N168.9m) and ZENITH (N159.4m).

Sector performance was largely bearish as all the indices under our coverage save for the Oil & Gas index closed in the red. The Insurance index led laggards, down 1.7 per cent, resulting from losses in MANSARD (-4.9%) and CUSTODIAN (-3.7%) which dragged the index lower. The Consumer Goods index trailed, shedding 1.6 per cent as declines in NESTLE (-3.2%) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.0%) dragged the Index. Similarly, sell-offs in ETI (-1.7%) and DANGCEM (-0.6%) led to a pullback of 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent in the Banking and Industrial Goods indices respectively. On the flipside, the Oil & Gas Index closed flattish, up a marginal 1bp, as buying interest in ETERNA (+1.0%) offset losses in OANDO (-4.9%).

Investors sentiment measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) weakened to 0.3x from 0.7x recorded last Friday as 11 stocks advanced while 34 stocks declined. Today’s top gainers were CAVERTON (+5.0%), STERLING (+3.8%) and MBENEFIT (+3.6%) while CILEASING (-9.4%), FIRSTALU (-8.9%) and JAPAULOIL (-7.5%) led the laggards. Despite today’s bearish performance, we maintain our bullish outlook for the market hinged on the existence of bargain hunting opportunities in large and mid-cap stocks.

Market Statistics Monday, 14th May 2018

Market Cap (N’bn)                                        14,734.7

Market Cap (US$’bn)                                          48.1

NSE All-Share Index                                   40,677.61

Daily Performance %                                           (0.8)

Week Performance %                                         (1.2)

YTD Performance %                                            6.4

Daily Volume (Million)                                      218.8

Daily Value (N’bn)                                                2.2

Daily Value (US$’m)                                           7.3