Stock market lost steam, back-pedals gains

Today, the domestic equities market lost due to sell pressure on some bellwether banking stocks – ZENITH (-0.8%), ACCESS (-0.6%), and UBA (-0.6%). Accordingly, the benchmark index tapered 1bp to 42388.57 points, market capitalisation shed ₦3.2bn to ₦22.1tn while YTD return remained at 5.3%. Trading activity improved as volume and value traded rose 94.2% and 58.3% respectively to 275.9m units and ₦3.9bn. UACN (75.9m units), FBNH (68.6m units), and UBA (16.7m units) led by volume while FBNH (₦836.4m), UACN (₦720.8m), and NESTLE (₦528.5m) led by value.

Across the sectors within our coverage, performance was bullish as 4 indices gained while 2 lost. Leading the gainers, the Insurance index rose 1.2% due to buying interest in MBENEFIT (+3.6%) and AIICO (+1.5%). Successively, the Consumer Goods and AFR-ICT indices gained 5bps and 3bps respectively on the back of gains in HONYFLOUR (+1.5%), NESTLE (+1bp), and MTNN (+5bps). Also, the Industrial Goods index recorded gains of 2bps, driven by price uptick in CAP (+6.9%). On the flip side, the Oil & Gas and Banking indices shed 45bps and 43bps correspondingly following losses in ETERNA (-9.9%), OANDO (-1.1%), ZENITH (-9.9%), and ACCESS (-0.6%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), weakened to 1.4x from 1.9x as 21 stocks advanced while 15 stocks declined. MEYER (+9.5%), CHIPLC (+9.3%), and CAP (+6.9%) led gainers while ETERNA (-9.9%), MRS (-9.9%), and JAPAULGOLD (-7.7%) led decliners. In the next trading session, we expect an extended bearish performance on waning investor sentiment and profit-taking.

Market Statistics for Tuesday, 21st December 2021