Today, the domestic equities market sustained losses on account of profit-taking in WAPCO (-3.7%), UBA (-3.3%) and ZENITH (-1.2%) as the All-Share Index declined 19bps to settle at 25,550.31 points. Consequently, market capitalisation fell to ₦13.4tn as investors lost ₦1.2bn while YTD loss worsened to -4.8%. Activity level waned as volume and value traded decreased 13.6% and 19.8% respectively to 211.8m units and ₦2.4bn. The most traded stocks by volume were FCMB (30.3m units), ACCESS (21.0m units) and UBA (18.6m units) while MTNN (₦1.1bn), ZENITH (₦306.3m) and ACCESS (₦139.4m) led by value.
Performance across sectors was mixed though negatively skewed as 3 of the 6 indices under our coverage closed in the red. The Insurance and Banking indices led laggards, down 1.5% and 0.6% respectively following sell pressures in NEM (-9.8%), AIICO (-3.4%), UBA (-3.3.%) and ZENITH (-1.2%). Similarly, the Industrial Goods index fell 0.2% due to a sell-off in WAPCO (-3.7%). On the other hand, the Oil & Gas and Consumer Goods indices were the gainers, up 0.4% and 0.1% respectively as investors took position in OANDO (+4.4%), ARDOVA (+0.4%) and VITAFOAM (+1.8%). Finally, the AFR-ICT index closed flat.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) was unchanged at 0.9x as 17 stocks gained against the 19 that lost. The top gainers were LEARNAFRCA (+9.6%), BERGER (+7.4%) and UBN (+7.0%) while ROYALEX (-10.0%), NEM (-9.8%) and CADBURY (-8.4%) lost the most. We expect the bearish performance to persist as we anticipate more profit-taking. However, there are opportunities for bargain hunting.
Market Statistics for Wednesday, 16th September 2020
| Market Cap (N’bn) | 13,352.9 |
| Market Cap (US$’bn) | 34.6 |
| NSE All-Share Index | 25,550.31 |
| Daily Performance % | 0.2 |
| WTD Performance % | 0.2 |
| MTD Performance % | 0.9 |
| QTD Performance % | 4.4 |
| YTD Performance % | (4.8) |
| Daily Volume (Million) | 211.8 |
| Daily Value (N’bn) | 2.4 |
| Daily Value (US$’m) | 6.3 |
