Nigeria bourse down 0.59% as investors lose N122.4bn on sell-offs in Nestle, Wapco, Flour Mills

Charles Abuede

Equities investors lost N122.4 billion in the secondary capital market on Tuesday following sell-offs in Nestle Plc (-6.9%), Wapco Plc (-7.1%) and Flour Mills Plc (-6.4%) and subpar levels of investor sentiments. As a result, the benchmark index fell 0.59 per cent to 39,697.62 points as the market year to date return worsened to -1.4 per cent and market capitalisation declined by N122.4 billion to N20.76 trillion.
Trading activity was mixed as the volume of transaction fell by 59.1 per cent to 222.6 million units while total transaction value rose 185.5 per cent to N5.4 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank (48.1 million units), United Capitals (20.2 million units) and Mutual Benefit Assurance (19.4 million units) while Nestle Plc (N2.7 billion), Zenith Bank (N1.2 billion) and GTBank (N240.7 million) led by value.
With only 4 out of 6 indices closing southward, the sectoral performance was bearish as only the insurance index emerged as the top gainer with a 0.2 per cent rise following price appreciations in NEM (+6.0%) and Prestige Assurance (+7.0%). On the flip side, the consumer goods and oil and gas indices shed off 3.9 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively due to selloffs in Nestle Plc (-6.9%), Flour Mills Plc (-6.4%), Ardova Plc (-10.0%) and Oando Plc (-4.7%). Likewise, the industrial goods and the banking indices closed lower by 0.4 per cent and 0.1 per cent apiece following sell pressures in Wapco Plc (-7.1%), UBA (-1.8%) and Zenith Bank (-0.6%). Lastly, the ICT index closed flat.
Meanwhile, there was an improvement in the level of investor sentiment as measured by market breadth to 0.7x from the 0.4x recorded previously as 17 stocks advanced against 24 decliners. Academy Plc (+9.8%), PZ Cussons (+9.4%) and Royal Exchange (+8.0%) were the top gainers while Mutual Benefit Assurance (-10.0%), Ardova Plc (-10.0%) and Champion Breweries (-9.7%) were the top losers.

The NSE 30
The NSE 30 Index fell by 0.78 per cent to close at 1,588.14 points as against 1,600.64 points on the previous day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 107.34 million units. Guaranty was the only gainer, while Sterling and Lafarge Africa were the key losers.

FX market
The Nigerian Naira depreciated by 0.59 per cent at the I&E segment of the foreign exchange market, as the dollar was quoted at N411.63 for the dollar as against the last close of N409.20. Most participants maintained bids at between N381 and N415 per dollar.

Treasury Bills market
The Nigerian treasury bills secondary market closed unchanged from the last session close, with the average yield across the curve remaining unchanged at 1.49 per cent. Thus, the average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed at 0.57 per cent, 1.48 per cent, and 2.01 per cent, respectively.
Elsewhere in the OMO bills market, buying interest was seen in the OMO 28-Dec-21 (-75 bps) and OMO 30-Mar-21 (-18 bps) maturity bills, while selling pressure was witnessed in the OMO 12-Oct-21 (+87 bps) maturity bill. Thus, the average yield across the curve remained unchanged at 6.14 per cent. Also, the average yield across short-term maturities declined by 4 basis points, while the average yield across long-term maturities expanded by 1 basis point. The average yield across medium-term maturities closed flat at 5.07 per cent. But yields on 17 bills remained unchanged.

Bond market
The FGN bonds secondary market closed on a mildly negative note on Tuesday as the average bond yield across the curve cleared higher by 3 basis points to close at 5.24 per cent from 5.21 per cent on the previous day. Average yield across short tenor of the curve increased by 6 basis points, while the average yield across medium tenor of the curve decreased by 11 basis points. However, the average yield across the long tenor of the curve remained unchanged. The 26-APR-2029 maturity bond was the best performer with a decline in yield of 28 basis points, while the 27-APR-2023 maturity bond was the worst performer with an increase in yield of 21 basis points.