Equities Market Trades Flat over Waning Investors Sentiment
Equities segment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed today’s trading session flat as the benchmark index stood at 28,344.34 points.
Investors’ sentiment waned on accounts of #EndSARS protest that has permeate the business environment in the recent time.
As a result, the NSE capitalisation and year to date return remain unchanged at ₦14.8tn and 5.6% respectively.
However, activity level waned as average volume and value traded declined by 59.2% and 37.5% to 218.4m units and ₦3.1bn respectively.
The most traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (53.1m units), UBA (33.5m units) and GUARANTY (25.1m units).
Meanwhile ZENITH (₦1.1bn), GUARANTY (₦753.2m) and STANBIC (₦269.8m) led by value.
Performance across sectors was positive as 4 of 6 indices under Afrinvest analysts’ coverage closed in the green.
The Insurance and Banking indices led the pack, up 0.6% and 0.5% respectively, following gains in CORNERSTONE (+5.0%) and GUARANTY (+1.5%).
Trailing, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices appreciated 2.0% apiece due to price appreciation in PZ (+5.0%), GUINNESS (+3.3%) and WAPCO (+2.1%).
On the flip side, losses in ARDOVA (-3.6%) and ETRANZACT (-9.9%) dragged the Oil & Gas and AFR-ICT indices lower by 17bps and 4bps respectively.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth improved to 1.3x from the 1.2x recorded previously as 14 stocks gained against the 11 that declined.
ETERNA share price gained 9.8%, ACADEMY increased 7.4% and AFRIPRUD grew 5.8% to lead the gainers chart.
Meanwhile ETRANZACT dropped 9.9%, WEMABANK lost 5.2% and COURTVILLE declined 4.8% to lead the underperformers.
“We expect bargain hunting to drive gains in the next trading session”, Afrinvest stated.
Read Also: Tier-1 Banks stocks in red as market brush-off earnings performance
Equities Market Trades Flat over Waning Investors Sentiment
