Bearish run lower market capitalisation to N10.8trn as ASI down 1.2%
Bear overran the stock market again last week as total value of all quoted stock declined to N10.8 trillion and index remain below psychological benchmark.
The rout on the Nigerian local bourse continued as bearish sentiments were observed across all trading sessions of the week.
As a result, most stocks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange remained undervalued, trading near 1-year lows.
Extended sell pressures in market bellwethers – ZENITH (-4.8%), GUARANTY (-4.7%) and DANGCEM (-0.6%) – drove the All Share Index (ASI) 1.2% lower W-o-W to 28,847.81 points.
Accordingly, year to date (YTD) return settled at -8.2% while market capitalisation decreased by N136.9 billion. Similarly, activity level weakened, as average volume and value traded declined 19.7% and 43.9% to N235.0 million units and N1.4 billion respectively.
The top traded stocks by volume were ACCESS (164.4 million units), COURTVILLE (163.2 million units) and UBA (141.1 million units) while ZENITH (N1.9 billion), GUARANTY (N1.8 billion) and ACCESS (N1.2 billion) led by value.
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At the start of the week, the market shed 5bps after which it maintained a downtrend till Friday. Sell pressures on DANGCEM, GUARANTY, ZENITH and ACCESS drove the benchmark index 104 basis points (bps) lower on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. By the close of the week, the cumulative loss extended to 121 bps on the back of price depreciation in SEPLAT, GUARANTY and UBA.
Across sectors, performance was equally negative as all indices closed in the red week on week. The Oil & Gas index was the biggest loser, down 5.3% due to losses in SEPLAT (-10.0%) and JAPAULOIL (-33.3%).
The Banking index trailed, falling 2.8% as ZENITH (-4.8%), GUARANTY (-4.3%) and UBA (-3.0%) witnessed price depreciation. In the same vein, sell-offs in MANSARD (-9.5%), GOLDINSU (-36.1%), DANGCEM (-0.6%) and CCNN (-3.5%) dragged the Insurance and Industrial Goods indices 1.7% and 0.8% lower respectively. Also, the Consumer Goods index declined 0.2% due to sell-offs in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-1.1%) and DANGSUGAR (-0.4%).
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) softened to 0.4x from 0.7x recorded last Friday consequent on 18 stocks advancing against 47 that declined. The best performers for the week were BETAGLASS (+23.1%), COURTVILLE (+13.6%) and NEM (+13.1%) while GOLDINSU (-36.1%), JAPAULOIL (-33.3%) and NEIMETH (-25.4%) led laggards.
“In the coming week, we anticipate a bearish performance as foreign investors remain on the side-lines in the absence of major economic triggers”, Afrinvest projected.
