Equities market begins the week flattish… ASI down 3bps

As anticipated, the equities market began the trading week on a slightly negative note as the All Share Index (ASI) declined 3bps to 34,837.67 points. Consequently, YTD loss stood at -8.9 per cent while N3.9 billion was wiped off market capitalisation which decreased to N12.7 trillion. Price appreciation in bellwethers – ZENITH (+1.7%), GUARANTY (+1.4%) and DANGCEM (+0.9%) were offset by losses in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-3.0%), GUINNESS (-5.3%) and DANGSUGAR (-4.1%), hence the negative performance. In the same vein, activity level waned as volume and value traded fell 65.8 per cent and 68.0 per cent to 131.5 million units and N3.1 billion respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were NIGERIAN BREWERIES (19.1m), STANBIC (11.8m) and AIICO (11.2m) while NIGERIAN BREWERIES (N1.8bn), STANBIC (N0.6bn) and ZENITH (N0.1bn) were the top traded stocks by value.

Performance across sectors was mixed, albeit skewed to the positive as 3 of 5 indices we track closed in the green. The Insurance index was the biggest gainer, up 1.9 per cent as investors rallied in AIICO (+9.8%) and CONTINSURE (+9.4%). The Banking and Industrial Goods indices followed suit, rising 0.6 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively following buying interest in ZENITH (+1.7%), GUARANTY (+1.4%) and ETERNA (+3.0%). On the flip side, losses in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-3.0%), GUINNESS (-5.3%) and FORTE (-0.8%) dragged the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices 1.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent lower respectively.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) remained soft at 0.9x as 18 stocks advanced against 19 stocks that declined. The top performers were in HMARKINS (+10.0%), AIICO (+9.8%) and CONTINSURE (+9.5%) while JAIZ (-10.0%), FLOURMILL (-9.7%) and TRANSCORP (-7.9%) led laggards. We expect performance to remain bearish in the near term as sentiments remain weak.

Market Statistics Monday, 3rd September 2018

Market Cap (N’bn)                                  12,718.4

Market Cap (US$’bn)                                     41.5

NSE All-Share Index                               34,837.67

Daily Performance %                                       (0.0)

Week Performance %                                      (1.3)

YTD Performance %                                         (8.9)

Daily Volume (Million)                                      131.5

Daily Value (N’bn)                                                3.1

Daily Value (US$’m)                                           10.2