Nigerian Equities Market closes in Red as investors lost N12.5 bn

Sell pressures in NESTLE (-4.2%), MTNN (-1.2%) and UAC-PROP (-9.3%) dragged the benchmark index down by 10bps to 26,375.35 points. As a result, YTD loss worsened to -16.1% while market capitalisation declined by N12.5bn to N12.8tn. Activity level was mixed as volume traded declined 17.4% to 304.3m units while value traded rose 44.2% to N4.0bn. The most active stocks by volume were LAWUNION (70.4m units), UBA (51.8m units) and ZENITH (50.4m units) while MTNN (N886.5m), ZENITH (N877.0m) and GUARANTY (N678.0m) led by value.

Across sectors, performance was mixed as only 2 sectors gained, 2 lost and the remaining 2 closed flat. Leading the laggards was the Consumer Goods index, down 2.2% on the back of sell-offs in NESTLE (-4.2%) and GUINNESS (-2.3%). The AFR-ICT index trailed, with a 0.7% loss due to price weakness in MTNN (-1.2%).  Conversely, the Banking and Insurance indices advanced 1.3% and 0.3% respectively due to gains in STANBIC (+5.4%), ETI (+7.7%), CHIPLC (+7.9%) and LAWUNION (+9.5%). The Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) increased to 2.1x from 1.4x recorded in the previous session as 17 stocks gained against 8 decliners. The top gainers were LAWUNION (+9.5%), UNITY (+9.4%) and CHIPLC (+7.9%) while UAC-PROP (-9.3%), HONEYFLOUR (-5.8%) and NESTLE (-4.2%) were the top losers. We believe the bearish momentum will be sustained in subsequent sessions as investors maintain a risk-off approach towards equities.

Market Statistics Tuesday, 5th November, 2019 

Source: Afrinvest