Trading activities on the domestic bourse closed the week in the red, as profit-taking on major bellwethers dragged the NGX-ASI lower by 3.4% w/w to 47,351.43 points. Accordingly, YTD return weakened to 10.8% (previously: 14.8%) while market capitalisation shed ₦660.3bn to ₦25.8tn. Trading activity varied as average volume fell 27.0% w/w to 146.7m units while average value traded rose 6.2% w/w to ₦2.2bn. The top traded stocks by volume were GTCO (152.2m units), STERLING (44.9m units), and ZENITH (42.5m units) while GTCO (₦2.6bn), MTNN (₦844.5m), and ZENITH (₦827.5m) topped the turnover table.
Across our coverage sectors, performance was underwhelming as all 6 indices declined. The AFR-ICT and Banking indices lost 6.6% and 3.4% w/w respectively due to selloffs in AIRTELAF (-10.0%), GTCO (-4.2%), and UBA (-3.6%). Trailing, price depreciation in CORNERST (-10.7%), AIICO (-5.8%), and OANDO (-6.2%) drove the Insurance and Oil & Gas indices down 1.2% and 1.0% w/w respectively. Likewise, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices lost 0.6% and 0.3% w/w respectively due to price decline in CADBURY (-9.9%), PZ (-9.2%), and WAPCO (-4.1%).
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, weakened to -0.4x from -0.1x recorded last week as 9 stocks gained, 44 lost while 99 were unchanged. The top performing stocks for the week were MULTIVERSE (+22.0%), LIVESTOCK (+11.8%), and CUTIX (+5.9%) while NASCON (-13.6%), CORNERST (-10.7%), and AIRTELAF (-10.0%) were the top underperforming stocks. Next week, we anticipate extended bearish momentum as investors continue to rotate into high-yielding fixed-income assets.
Afrinvest
