Sell-offs continue at Nigerian Stock market, ASI down 7bps

The domestic bourse recorded a bearish performance today as the benchmark index declined 7bps to 40,465.32 points on the back of sell-offs in BUACEMENT (-1.8%), ACCESS (-1.8%), and BETAGLASS (-7.8%). Consequently, the YTD return declined to 0.5% while market capitalisation inched lower by ₦15.2bn to settle at ₦21.2tn. Activity level waned as volume and value traded declined 31.5% and 54.0% respectively to 244.2m units and ₦2.7bn. The most traded stocks by volume were FBNH (52.3m units), TRANSCORP (24.8m units) and GUARANTY (16.5m units) while MTNN (₦557.1m), GUARANTY (₦512.5m) and FBNH (₦381.5m) led by value.

Performance across sectors was mixed as 3 of 6 indices under our coverage closed lower. The Industrial Goods and Banking indices lost the most, down 0.8% and 0.2% respectively due to declines in BUACEMENT (-1.8%), ACCESS (-1.8%) and FCMB (-3.0%). Similarly, the Consumer Goods index inched lower by 7bps as a result of losses in GUINNESS (-3.4%) and ZENITH (-0.6%). On the flip side, the Insurance and AFR-ICT indices appreciated 1.9% and 0.5% respectively as CORNERST (+9.3%), WAPIC (+7.3%) and MTNN (+0.9%) ticked higher. Lastly, the Oil & Gas index appreciated 0.2% due to gains in OANDO (+2.7%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) weakened to 0.8x from the 1.1x recorded previously as 17 stocks gained against 22 losers. JBERGER (+9.7%), HONYFLOUR (+9.6%) and CORNERST (+9.3%) were the top gainers while BETAGLASS (-9.7%), FIDSON (-8.5%) and CHIPLC (-7.9%) were the top losers. We believe bargain hunting would boost the performance of the market this week as prices remain attractive.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 17th February 2021