NGX ASI down 0.2% as Bears hold sway

As anticipated, the local bourse extended its bearish performance as the NGX ASI declined 02% to 97,100.36 points due to price depreciation in OANDO, DANGSUGA, and ETI (-4.7%). Resultantly, YTD return dipped to 29.9% (previously: 30.1%), while market capitalisation lost 0.2% to N55.1t. Similarly, activity level waned as volume and value traded fell 14.0% and 35.7% to 2713m units and N3.5bn, respectively.
Mixed Sector Performance Performance across our coverage sectors varied as three indices gained, one lost, while the Industrial Goods and AFRICT indices closed flat. Leading the gainers, the Oil & Gas index advanced 2.1% on the back of buy interest in TOTAL (+8.8%).| Trailing, price appreciation in AlICO (+6.5%), MANSARD (+1.9%), ZENITH (+2.3%), and UBA (+25%) pulled the Insurance and Banking indices higher by 40bps and 3bps, respectively. On the flip side, the Consumer Goods index declined 0.6% due to sell offs on DANGSUGA (-3.5%) and UNILEVER (-2.1%).
Outlook Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, worsened to 023x from -0.04x in the previous session as 14 stocks advanced, 31 ded ined, while 73 closed flat. We anticipate a bearish performance in the final trading day of the week, as the market remains short of sustainable catalysts. Maroeconomic Update According to the July 2024 CPI data released by the NBS today, headline inflation rate eased to 33.4% yly in July, marking the first slowdown in nearly two years, from a 28-year high of 342% in June. The moderation in the headline print reflects softer m/m price growth at 2.28%, supported by deceleration in food inflation (down 8bps to 27.5% m/m). Overall, annual food inflation decreased to 39.5% yly from 40.8% while core inflation (excluding farm produce and energy) hit a record high of