Bears halt positive momentum at stock market, ASI down 0.7%

Today, the local bourse opened the week on a bearish note on the back of profit taking in MTNN (-2.9%), NESTLE (-5.1%), and FBNH (-7.5%). Accordingly, the All-Share index fell 71bps to 41,144.67 points while market capitalisation contracted by ₦153.2bn to ₦21.5tn. Meanwhile, YTD return moderated to 2.2%. Trading activity weakened as volume and value traded declined by 53.5% and 52.4% respectively to 338.7m units and ₦4.1bn. The most traded stocks by volume were FBNH (67.6m units), ACCESS (36.6m units), and TRANSCORP (26.5m units) while FBNH (₦832.8m), GTCO (₦755.2m), and ACCESS (₦351.2m) led by value.

Performance across sectors within our coverage was bearish as 4 indices lost while 2 indices gained. The Insurance and Consumer Goods indices led the laggards, down 2.5% and 1.7% respectively due to sell pressure on AIICO (-5.3%), WAPIC (-4.0%), NESTLE (-5.1%), and DANGSUGAR (-0.3%). Similarly, the AFR-ICT and Oil & Gas indices lost 1.6% and 0.3% respectively as investors sold off MTNN (-2.9%) and OANDO (-1.5%). On the flip side, the Banking and Industrial Goods indices appreciated by 0.4% and 0.3% respectively as a result of buying interest in STANBIC (+1.3%), ZENITH (+0.6%), BUACEMENT (+0.5%), and WAPCO (+2.7%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), weakened to 0.9x from 3.8x as 18 stocks advanced against 21 declining stocks. IKEJAHOTEL (+9.5%), CUSTODIAN (+7.5%), and HONYFLOUR (+6.5%) led the gainers while MAYBAKER (-8.0%), ROYALEX (-7.8%), and NPFMCRFBK (-7.6%) led the losers. We expect the market to rebound in the next trading session as investors position for the earnings season.

Market Statistics for Monday, 18th October 2021