NGX records N274.2bn loss Wednesday due to losses in the bellwethers and waning sentiment

• Naira appreciated 0.1% at the I&E FX market segment

Charles Abuede

The successive downtrends from Tuesday’s trading session was sustained by the local equities market midweek as the benchmark index declined by 1.3 per cent to close at 38,781.48 points following losses in Dangote Cement (-7.3%), International Breweries (-8.8%), and GTBank (-0.5%) which was spurred on by the waning investor sentiment in the local bourse. As a result of losses recorded, the market year to date return worsened to -3.7 per cent while the total market capitalization fell to N20.29 trillion from N20.57 trillion as on the previous day. Thus, market investors lost N274.2 billion from the midweek session.

Conversely, the level of trading activities as seen in the market on Wednesday advanced as the total volume and value of deals traded rose 2.8 per cent  and 7.7 per cent to 259.5 million units and N1.9 billion respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were First Bank Holding (69.5m units), Transnational Corporation (36.7m units) and Zenith Bank (16.6m units) while First Bank Holding (N514.3m), ZENITH (N366.4m) and Nestle Plc (N170.1m) led by value.

Across the sectors of the market, negative performance was recorded with 4 out of 6 indicators losing while the others gained and closed unchanged respectively. With the buying interest seen in Seplat Petroleum, the oil and gas index gained 2.0 per cent while the ICT index closed flat. Furthermore, the insurance index led the laggards, down 1.6 per cent due to profit-taking in Aiico Insurance (-4.7%) and Custodian Pensions (-3.3%). Also, the banking and consumer goods indices declined 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively on the back of sell-offs in GTBank (-0.5%), Access Bank (-1.3%), International Breweries (-8.8%), and Guinness Nigeria Plc (-5.8%). In the same regard, the industrial goods index declined 3 basis points due to price depreciation in Dangote Cement (-7.3%).

As witnessed on the trading floor on Wednesday, the investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth further weakened to 0.9x from the 1.4x recorded in the previous session as 19 stocks advanced while 22 declined. Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc (+10.0%), Portland Paint (+8.3%) and Royal Exchange Plc (+7.1%) were the top gainers while FTN Cocoa processors (-10.0%), Neimeth Pharmaceuticals (-8.9%) and International Breweries (-8.8%) were the top decliners.

The NSE 30

Meanwhile, the NSE 30 Index decreased by 1.26 per cent to close at 1,549.42 points as against 1,569.23 points as on the previous day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 124.54 million units as Nigerian Breweries and Seplat Petroleum were the key gainers, while International Breweries and Guinness Nigeria Plc were the key losers.

FX market

In the foreign exchange market, the CBN official exchange rate closed at N379 to the dollar while at the I&E FX rate the naira appreciated by 0.10 per cent as the dollar was quoted at N411.25 as against the last close of N411.67. Also, at the parallel market the exchange rate traded at N485 for the greenback as most participants maintained bids between N401.10 and N436.55 per dollar.

Treasury bills

The NT-bills secondary market closed on a flat note, with the average yield across the curve remaining unchanged at 4.74 per cent. Average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed at 2.92 per cent, 3.41 per cent, and 6.32 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, at the primary market auction held today, the apex bank offered NT-Bills worth N88.46 billion across 91-day (N11.39 billion), 182-day (N6 billion), and 364-day (N71.07 billion) tenors.

In the OMO bills market, the average yield across the curve increased by 18 basis points to close at 7.90 per cent as against the last close of 7.72 per cent. Selling pressure was seen across long-term maturities with the average yield rising by 34 basis points. However, the average yields on short-term and medium-term maturities closed flat at 4.31 per cent and 6.82 per cent, respectively. Yields on 16 bills advanced with the 15-Mar-22 maturity bill registering the highest yield increase of 96 basis points, while yields on 12 bills remained unchanged.

Bonds Market

The FGN bonds secondary market closed on a neutral note on Wednesday, as the average bond yield across the curve remained unchanged at 8.66 per cent. Average yields across short tenor and medium tenor of the curve remained unchanged. However, the averages yield across the long tenor of the curve widened by 1 basis point. The 24-JUL-2045 maturity bond was the best performer with a decrease in the yield of 3 basis points, while the 18-APR-2037 maturity bond was the worst performer with an increase in the yield of 7 basis points.