The local bourse closed in the red for the 8th consecutive trading session as the All Share Index (ASI) fell 60bps to 35,074.82 points while YTD return contracted further to -8.3 per cent. As a result, market capitalisation decreased by N77.9 billion to N12.8 trillion. Today’s bearish performance was due to sustained sell pressures in NESTLE (-3.9%), GUARANTY (-1.4%) and ZENITH (-2.1%).
On the flip side, activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 27.4 per cent and 80.1 per cent to 209.5 million units and N2.9 billion respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were UBA (28.3m), ZENITH (22.4m) and FCMB (21.0m) while GUARANTY (N785.4m), ZENITH (N518.4m) and UBA (N255.0m) were the top traded stocks by value.
Across sectors, performance was equally bearish as 4 of 5 indices we track closed southwards. The Consumer Goods index led the losers’ chart, down 1.5 per cent due to sell-offs in NESTLE (-3.9%) and DANGFLOUR (-5.0%). The Banking and Oil & Gas indices trailed, shedding 1.0% and 0.8% respectively following losses in GUARANTY (-1.4%), ZENITH (-2.1%), FORTE (-1.9%) and ETERNA (-3.9%). Similarly, the Industrial Goods index closed in the red albeit flattish, down 3bps. The Insurance index was the lone gainer, rising marginally by 4bps as CUSTODIAN (+0.2%) recorded gains.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), stayed weak at 0.4x as 12 stocks advanced against 29 that declined. The best performing stocks were LINKASSURE (+9.7%), UNIONDAC (+3.7%) and FBNH (+3.1%) while UACPROP (-10.0%), BERGER (-9.7%) and LEARNAFRCA (-9.4%) were the worst performers. In subsequent sessions, we anticipate a marginal rebound as we expect investors to take position in bellwethers with attractive entry prices.
Market Statistics Wednesday, 15th August 2018
Market Cap (N’bn) 12,805.5
Market Cap (US$’bn) 42.8
NSE All-Share Index 35,074.82
Daily Performance % (0.6)
Week Performance % (3.4)
YTD Performance % (8.3)
Daily Volume (Million) 209.5
Daily Value (N’bn) 2.9
Daily Value (US$’m) 9.5
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