Nigerian Exchange Goes South as Investors Lost N19.1 Billion
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) dives southward on Monday as investors lost N19.1 billion following week-long cold trading reported last week. Notably, the positive real gross domestic product (GDP) report of 0.51% for Q1 2020 did not quench the negative sentiment in the market.
Trading activity weaken as the All-Share Index declined by 10 basis points to close at 38,287.58 points following profit-taking on GUARANTY (-0.9%), UBA (-1.4%), and ACCESS (-1.8%).
Consequently, year to date loss worsened to -4.9% while market capitalisation declined by ₦19.1 billion to settle at ₦19.9 trillion.
Market data indicates that trading activity receded as volume and value traded fell by 19.0% and 43.9% respectively to 141.1 million units and ₦1.1 billion.
The most traded stocks by volume were UAC-PROP (17.3 million units), FBNH (11.3 million units), and CHAMS (7.9 million units) while ZENITH (₦166.1 million), GUARANTY (₦104.8 million), and NESTLE (₦104.4 million) led by value.
Mixed Sector Performance
Afrinvest said performance across sectors under its coverage was mixed as 3 indices gained and lost. The Oil & Gas and AFRI-ICT indices gained 0.2% apiece, driven by price appreciation in OANDO (+3.4%), and MTNN (+0.3%).
The Industrial goods index also gained 0.1%, driven by a 0.3% price uptick in DANGCEM. Conversely, the Banking, Consumer goods, and Insurance indices fell by 0.7% apiece, driven by price decline in GUARANTY (-0.9%), HONYFLOUR (-2.6%), and AIICO (-4.7%) respectively.
Investor Sentiment Strengthens
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth strengthened to 1.1x from 1.0x in the last trading session as 18 stocks advanced while 17 declined. ROYALEX (+9.7%), REGALINS (+8.8%) and CHIPLC (+7.8%) led gainers.
Meanwhile ABCTRANS (-9.8%), ENAMELWA (-9.7%) and UAC-PROP (-8.4%) led decliners.
“We expect to see cautious trading tomorrow, as investors await CBN’s policy reaction to the recently released GDP and inflation numbers by the end of the MPC meeting tomorrow”, Afrinvest said.
Elsewhere, Nigerian Interbank Borrowing Rate (NIBOR) rose for all tenor buckets amid renewed liquidity strain; also, NITTY rose for most maturities tracked.
In the OTC bonds market, the values of FGN bonds moderated for most maturities tracked; albeit, the value of FGN Eurobond rose for most maturities.
Nigerian Exchange Goes South as Investors Lost N19.1 Billion
