Nigerian Stock market sustains sell-offs… ASI down 44bps

The sell-offs in the domestic bourse continued today as the benchmark index fell 44bps to 39,522.06 points due to price declines in MTNN (-2.3%), WAPCO (-7.1%) and INTBREW (-4.5%). Consequently, YTD return worsened to -1.9% and market capitalisation declined by ₦91.9bn to ₦20.7tn. Trading activity varied as volume advanced by 9.8% to 244.3m units and value fell 23.4% to ₦4.1bn. The most traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (41.4m units), GUARANTY (29.0m units) and UCAP (24.6m units) while ZENITH (₦1.1bn), GUARANTY (₦919.8m) and NESTLE (₦307.5m) led by value.

Performance across sectors was poor as 4 of the 6 indices under our coverage closed southward. The Oil & Gas index emerged as the lone gainer, up 5.0% due to price appreciation in SEPLAT (+10.0%). On the flip side, the AFR-ICT and Insurance indices lost 1.2% and 0.9% respectively due to declines in MTNN (-2.3%), NEM (-9.9%) and PRESTIGE (-8.7%). Similarly, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices closed lower by 45bps and 41bps respectively following sell pressures in INTBREW (-4.5%) and WAPCO (-7.1%). Lastly, the Banking index closed flat. 

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) declined to 0.6x from the 0.7x recorded previously as 16 stocks advanced against 29 decliners. SEPLAT (+10.0%), AIICO (+5.2%) and CORNERST (+5.2%) were the top gainers while NEM (-9.9%), CHAMPION (-9.8%) and NPFMCRFBK (-9.5%) were the top losers. We expect the sell-offs to continue due to increasing rates in the fixed income market. However, the current prices of stocks make an attractive case for dividend yields.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 3rd March 2021