Investors lost N74bn at Nigerian stock market

At the close of trade, the domestic equities market posted a bearish performance as the All-Share index declined 34bps to 41,564.31 points as a result of profit-taking in GUARANTY (-8.8%), PZ (-9.7%), and CHAMPION (-9.8%). Consequently, the YTD return declined to 3.2% while market capitalisation fell by ₦74.4bn to settle at ₦21.7tn. Activity level waned as volume and value traded fell 29.4% and 52.7% respectively to 340.3m units and ₦2.6bn. The most traded stocks by volume were UBN (78.8m units), FBNH (54.2m units) and ACCESS (34.0m units) while UBN (₦457.1m), FBNH (₦396.4m) and ZENITH (₦368.6m) led by value.

Performance across sectors under our coverage was bearish as 4 of 6 indices closed southward. The Banking index lost the most, down 2.7% due to profit taking in GUARANTY (-8.8%), JAIZBANK (-9.7%) and WEMABANK (-5.8%). Similarly, sell-offs in CORNERSTONE (-9.2%), AIICO (-2.5%), PZ (-9.7%) and CHAMPION (-9.8%) dragged the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices lower by 0.8% and 0.3% respectively. The Oil & Gas index also declined 1bp due to price weakness in ETERNA (-0.9%). On the flip side, the Industrial Goods index was the lone gainer, up 5bps due to price appreciation in WAPCO (+0.8%). Lastly, the AFR-ICT index closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) increased to 1.3x from the 0.4x recorded previously as 21 stocks gained against 16 losers. MCNICHOLS (+9.6%), UPDCREIT (+9.1%) and MULTIVERSE (+8.3%) were the top gainers while CHAMPION (-9.7%), PZ (-9.7%) and JAIZBANK (-9.7%) were the top losers. In the next trading session, we expect to see slight profit taking in high-priced stock.

Market Statistics for Monday, 8th February 2021 

Source: Afrinvest