Nigerian Stock market shed N9.1bn, ASI down 0.1%

The bearish sentiment was sustained at the close of trade as the All-Share Index fell 9bps to 27,523.08 points following sell-offs in GUARANTY (-1.6%), CUSTODIAN (-9.9%) and DANGSUGAR (-2.0%). As a result, YTD return fell to 2.5% while market capitalisation shed ₦9.1bn to ₦14.3tn. Activity level advanced as volume and value traded rose 72.6% and 133.0% to 290.2m units and ₦5.0bn respectively. The most active stocks by volume were GUARANTY (79.3m units), ZENITH (40.0m units) and FBNH (34.6m units) while GUARANTY (₦2.3bn), ZENITH (₦780.9m) and NESTLE (₦710.4m) led by value.

Across sectors, performance was bearish as 4 of 6 indices under our coverage trended southward. The Insurance index led laggards, down 2.3% due to sell-offs in CUSTODIAN (-9.9%), MANSARD (-10.0%) and LAWUNION (-9.1%). Similarly, the Oil & Gas and Banking indices fell 1.1% and 0.5% respectively, on the back of losses in FORTE (-10.0%), OANDO (-3.1%), GUARANTY (-1.6%) and FBNH (-0.9%). Also, price depreciation in DANGSUGAR (-2.0%) dragged the Consumer Goods index 0.1% lower. Conversely, the Industrial Goods index emerge the lone gainer, up 0.5% following bargain hunting in WAPCO (+4.0%) and CUTIX (+2.9%). Finally, the AFR-ICT index closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) weakened to 0.8x from the 0.9x recorded in the previous trading session as 13 stocks advanced relative to 17 decliners. The best performers were UCAP (+9.9%), AFRIPRUD (+9.9%) and AIICO (+9.8%) while MANSARD (-10.0%), FORTE (-10.0%) and CUSTODIAN (-9.9%) led the laggards. Despite opportunities for bargain hunting, we maintain our bearish outlook on the equities market in the near term.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 19th February 2020 

Source: Afrinvest