Stock market continues bearish run with N3.2bn decline

The Equities market of the NGX on Monday extended last week’s bearish run, due to selling pressure on Zenith Bank Plc shares with (-1.3%); WAPCO (-1.8%), and OANDO (-4.1%).

Specifically, the market capitalisation fell N3.2billion to N20.3trillion, while the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) declined 2bps to close at 38,915.62 points, Year Till Date (YTD) loss worsened to -3.4 per cent.

Trading activity improved as volume and value traded rose by 30.1% and 11.4% to 201.1m units and N2.5billion respectively.

The most traded stocks by volume were UNIVINSURE (19.4m units), FIDELITY (19.3m units), and FBNH (16.7m units) while NESTLE (₦1.2bn), STANBIC (₦202.1m), and UNILEVER (₦131.9m) led by value.

Performance was mixed across sectors under our coverage as 3 indices lost, 2 gained, while the AFR-ICT index closed flat.

The Oil & Gas index led the laggards, down 0.7 per cent due to profit-taking in OANDO (-4.1%). Similarly, the Insurance and Industrial Goods indices dipped 0.1 per cent apiece as a result of losses in WAPIC (-3.9%), MBENEFIT(-3.2%), and WAPCO (-1.8%).

Meanwhile, the Consumer Goods and Banking indices advanced 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively on the back of buying interest in HONYFLOUR (+1.3%), INTBREW (+4.2%), ACCESS (+1.1%), and FIDELITY (+4.4%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 0.9x from 0.7x as 18 stocks advanced while 19 stocks declined.

MORISON (+9.4%), SOVRENINS (+8.0%), and LINKASSURE (+5.3%) led the gainers while SCOA (-10.0%), ACADEMY (-7.7%), and ABCTRANS (-5.7%) led the losers. In the next trading session, we expect the local bourse to sustain bearish performance in the absence of any positive catalyst.