Profit-takings Drag Stock Market Lower by N91.1 Billion
Sustained profit-takings dragged stock market lower by N91.1 billion Wednesday as investors’ adjusted portfolio.
The sell-offs in the domestic bourse continued as the benchmark index fell 44 basis points bps to 39,522.06 points.
The knocked off came on the back of stocks prices depreciation in MTNN (-2.3%), WAPCO (-7.1%) and INTBREW (-4.5%).
Consequently, year to date losses worsened to -1.9% and market capitalisation declined to ₦20.7 trillion.
Trading activity varied as volume advanced by 9.8% to 244.3 million units and value fell 23.4% to ₦4.1 billion.
The most traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (41.4 million units), GUARANTY (29.0 million units) and UCAP (24.6 million units).
Meanwhile ZENITH (₦1.1 billion), GUARANTY (₦919.8 million) and NESTLE (₦307.5 million) led by value.
In a market report, Afrinvest said performance across sectors was poor as 4 of the 6 indices under its coverage closed southward.
Specifically noted is the Oil & Gas index which emerged as the lone gainer, up 5.0% due to price appreciation in SEPLAT (+10.0%).
On the flip side, the AFR-ICT and Insurance indices lost 1.2% and 0.9% respectively due to declines in MTNN (-2.3%), NEM (-9.9%) and PRESTIGE (-8.7%).
Similarly, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices closed lower by 45bps and 41bps respectively following sell pressures in INTBREW (-4.5%) and WAPCO (-7.1%).
However, the Banking index closed flat amidst renewed bearish trading session.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth declined to 0.6x from the 0.7x recorded previously as 16 stocks advanced against 29 decliners.
Debt Market Records Mixed Performance as Naira Depreciates
SEPLAT (+10.0%), AIICO (+5.2%) and CORNERST (+5.2%) were the top gainers while NEM (-9.9%), CHAMPION (-9.8%) and NPFMCRFBK (-9.5%) were the top losers.
“We expect the sell-offs to continue due to increasing rates in the fixed income market.
“However, the current prices of stocks make an attractive case for dividend yields”, Afrinvest.
Profit-takings Drag Stock Market Lower by N91.1 Billion
