Investors stayed negative on Nigerian stocks on Thursday extending sell pressures into their third consecutive session in a week that only saw a bright side Monday when trade opened.
Losses in DANGCEM (-2.9%), NESTLE (-1.5%) and DANGSUGAR (-8.0%) pulled the All Share Index (ASI) southwards, shedding 1.4 percent to settle at 32,006.65 points while year-to-date loss increased to -16.3 percent. Market Capitalisation also declined by N167.8 billion to close at N11.7 trillion.
Activity level however strengthened as volume and value traded moved higher by 67.4 percent and 29.0 percent to 355.7 million units and N4.9 billion respectively.
The top traded stocks by volume were FCMB (168.7m), GUARANTY (85.8m), and ZENITH (24.4m) while the top traded stocks by value were GUARANTY (N3.2bn), ZENITH (N562.9m) and FCMB (N261.2m).
Across sectors, performance was bearish as all indices closed in the red. The industrial index shed the most as losses in DANGCEM (-2.9%) erased gains on WAPCO (+2.0%) to close the index lower by 2.1 percent.
The consumer goods index and oil & gas index trailed as losses in NESTLE (-1.5%) and DANGSUGAR (-8.0%), OANDO (-4.7%) and ETERNA (-9.9%) pushed the indices lower by 1.1 percent and 0.8 percent respectively.
The banking index and insurance index completed the laggards as losses in ZENITH (-1.3%), and FBNH (-3.8%), LASACO (-6.7%) and LINKASSURE (-5.8%) dragged the indices lower by 0.6 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) remained unchanged at 0.5x as 11 stocks advanced against 23 stocks that declined.
The best performing stocks for today were JAPAUL (+10.0%), NEIMETH (+9.1%) and WAPIC (+7.5%) while CADBURY (-10.0%), CAP (-10.0%) and ETERNA (-9.9%) led the laggards in today’s session.
Following three consecutive days of profit taking, analysts at Afrinvest anticipate a mild upturn in prices of bellwethers that have declined, thus driving a positive performance in Friday’s session.
The souls of our ancestors will now rest in peace!