Equities market (www.nse.com.ng) opens the week on a negative note as market index drops.
Losses in CCNN (-5.0%), GUARANTY (-0.5%) and FCMB (-5.5%) dragged the All-Share Index (ASI) by 4 basis points (bps) to 26,990.59 points.
Meanwhile, year to date (YTD) loss stood at -14.1% after the first trading in the month.
Market capitalisation then fell N153.0 billion to N13 trillion. However, activity level was mixed as volume traded rose 8.5% to 246.5 million units while value traded declined 33.4% to N2.4 billion.
The top traded stocks by volume were FCMB (97.8m), ZENITH (21.8m), and FBNH (15.2m) while NIGERIAN BREWERIES (N614.9m), ZENITH (N406.8m) and DANGCEM (N352.6m) led the value chart.
Afrinvest said that sector performance was mixed as 3 of 6 indices under its coverage closed positive while the AFR-ICT index closed flat.
The Insurance index led gainers as price appreciation in MANSARD (+5.9%) and LAWUNION (+9.2%) drove the index higher by 1.0%.
The Consumer Goods index trailed, appreciating 0.7% due to buying interest in UNILEVER (+9.9%) and INTBREW (+6.4%).
On the flip side, the Industrial Goods index declined 1.2%, following sell-offs in CCNN (-5.0%) and CUTIX (-1.4%).
Similarly, the Oil & Gas and Banking indices depreciated 0.2% apiece, driven by losses in OANDO (-1.3%), GUARANTY (-0.5%) and FCMB (-5.5%).
Meanwhile, investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) declined to 0.7x from 1.6x recorded from the previous trading session as 12 stocks advanced against 17 decliners.
The best performing stocks were UNILEVER (+9.9%), LAWUNION (+9.2%) and CHAMS (+8.6%) while SOVERENINS (-9.1%), UACN (-8.7%) and UNITYBANK (-8.5%) led the losers.
“This week, we expect a weaker pace of gains in the equities market due to profit taking activities”, Afrinvest noted.
Over all, UNILEVER emerged as the top gainer, while SOVRENINS emerged as top loser.
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