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
Market Cap (N’bn) | 14,338.3 |
Market Cap (US$’bn) | 39.8 |
NSE All-Share Index | 27,523.08 |
Daily Performance % | (0.1) |
WTD Performance % | (0.8) |
MTD Performance % | (4.6) |
QTD Performance % | 2.5 |
YTD Performance % | 2.5 |
Daily Volume (Million) | 290.2 |
Daily Value (N’bn) | 5.0 |
Daily Value (US$’m) | 14.0 |
Source: Afrinvest