Nigerian Exchange Drops over Selloff in Banking Stocks
The Nigerian Exchange declines Wednesday amidst selloffs in banking stocks following two days of losing streaks. Profit-taking activities at the local bourse resulted in a N22.2 billion loss as bloodbath continues in the equities space.
According to market data, there was sell pressure on ZENITH (-1.3%), ACCESS (-2.3%) and ETI (-1.9%) as the All-Share Index fell 11 basis points to 37,804.46 points.
Consequently, year to date loss worsened to -6.1% while market capitalisation declined to ₦19.7 trillion. Meanwhile, trading activity weakened as volume and value traded fell by 4.5% and 41.2% respectively to 208.4 million units and ₦1.6 billion.
The most traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (33.7 million units), ETRANZACT (21.0 million units), and FIDELITY (13.7 million units) while ZENITH (₦795.0 million), FLOURMILL (₦106.2 million), and ACCESS (₦75.1 million) led by value.
Bearish Sector Performance
Afrinvest said in a report that performance across sectors under its coverage was bearish as 4 indices lost, 1 gained and 1 closed flat.
The Banking and Insurance indices led laggards, down 0.8% and 0.5% respectively on the back of sell-offs in ZENITH (-1.3%), ACCESS (-2.3%) and AIICO (-1.8%).
Similarly, the Oil & Gas and AFR-ICT indices declined by 0.1% and 1bps respectively following price depreciation in OANDO (-1.4%) and ETRANZACT (-8.4%).
Conversely, the Consumer Goods index inched higher by 0.2% due to buying interest in DANGSUGAR (+1.1%) and VITAFOAM (+4.8%). On the other hand, the Industrial Goods index closed flat.
Weak Investors Sentiment
Investors’ sentiment, as measured by market breadth weakened to 0.5x from 0.8x recorded in the last trading session as 11 stocks advanced while 23 stocks declined.
FTNCOCOA (+10.0%), IKEJAHOTEL (+9.9%), and CORNERST (+9.8%) led gainers while ROYALEX (-10.0%), JAPAULGO (-9.8%), and UPL (-9.5%) led decliners.
“In the next trading session, we expect the domestic bourse to extend bearish performance in the absence of any positive catalyst”, Afrinvest said in the report.
Nigerian Exchange Drops over Selloff in Banking Stocks
