Investors lost N17bn at stock market as improved sentiment fails to lift performance

At the close of trade, sell-offs in Banking stocks – ZENITH (-2.3%), GTCO (-0.7%), and ACCESS (-1.1%) – dragged the benchmark index southward as the NGX All-Share Index dipped 8bps to close at 38,873.85 points. Accordingly, YTD loss worsened to -3.5% while market capitalisation decreased ₦17.0bn to ₦20.3tn. Trading activity was mixed as volume traded rose 1.4% to 184.4m units while value traded fell 0.3% to ₦2.3bn. The most traded stocks by volume were UBA (39.0m units), GTCO (19.0m units), and ZENITH (14.2m units) while GTCO (₦517.9m), ZENITH (₦326.5m), and DANGCEM (₦298.8m) led by value. 

Across sectors under our coverage, performance was mixed as 3 indices gained, 1 lost, while the Consumer Goods and AFR-ICT indices closed flat. The Banking index was the lone laggard, down 1.0% due to sell-offs in ZENITH (-2.3%), GTCO (-0.7%), and ACCESS (-1.1%). Conversely, the Industrial Goods index led the gainers, up 8bps on the back of price appreciation in WAPCO (+1.4%) and CUTIX (+2.1%). Similarly, the Insurance and Oil & Gas indices gained 7bps and 6bps respectively on account of buying interest in WAPIC (+2.1%) and MRSOIL (+9.8%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 1.2x from 0.9x as 15 stocks advanced while 13 stocks declined. MRS (+9.7%), VERITASKAP (+9.5%), and REGALINS (+6.8%) led the gainers while NEIMETH (-7.9%), CHAMS (-4.3%), and JAPAULGOLD (-4.1%) led the laggards. Following an improvement in sentiment, we expect a positive performance in the next trading session as investors take position in attractive stocks.

Market Statistics for Tuesday, 21st September 2021