Nigeria bourse down N440bn in 3 days as sell pressure lingers
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Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Ecobank stocks feel Wednesday trading pressure
The Nigerian equities market sustained its bearish performance for the third consecutive day, leading to a cumulative crash of N440 billion in three days, with sell pressure on Zenith Bank (-1.3%), Access Bank (-2.3%) and Ecobank (-1.9%) forcing the All-Share Index down by 0.11 percent to 37,804.46 points on Wednesday.
As a result, the NGX market capitalisation declined to N19.7 trillion from N19.73 trillion while the market year to date loss worsened to -6.1 percent.
Similarly, the level of trading activity weakened as the volume and value traded fell by 4.5 percent and 41.2 percent respectively to 208.4 million units and N1.6 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank (33.7 million units), E-Tranzact (21.0 million units), and Fidelity Bank (13.7 million units) while Zenith Bank (N795.0 million), Flour Mills (N106.2 million), and Access Bank (N75.1 million) led by value.
Bearish performance was witnessed across the sectoral fronts as four indices lost, one gained and one closed flat. The banking and insurance indices led the laggards, down 0.8 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively on the back of sell-offs in Zenith Bank (-1.3%), Access Bank (-2.3%) and Aiico Insurance (-1.8%).
Similarly, the oil & gas and ICT indices fell by 0.1 percent and one basis points, respectively following price depreciation in Oando Plc (-1.4%) and E-Tranzact (-8.4%). Conversely, the consumer goods index inched higher by 0.2 percent due to buying interest in Dangote Sugar (+1.1%) and Vitafoam (+4.8%). On the other hand, the industrial goods index closed flat.
Furthermore, the level of investor sentiment weakened to 0.5x from 0.8x recorded in the last trading session as 11 stocks advanced while 23 stocks declined. FTN Cocoa Processing company (+10.0%), Ikeja Hotel (+9.9%), and Cornerstone Insurance (+9.8%) led gainers while Royal Exchange (-10.0%), Japaul Gold (-9.8%), and University Press Limited (-9.5%) led decliners.
Elsewhere, the NSE 30 Index decreased by 0.14 percent to close at 1,582.05 points as against 1,584.33 points the previous day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 92.24 million units. Dangote Sugar and Fidelity Bank were the only gainers, while Access Bank and Ecobank were the key losers.
FX Market
In the currency market, the Naira depreciated by 0.37 percent as the dollar was quoted at N411.50 as against the last close of N410 to a dollar at the I&E FX market while the parallel market rate closed at N500 per dollar as most participants maintained bids between N387.67 and N420.88 per dollar.
T-Bills
Further afield, the Nigerian T-Bills secondary market closed on a flat note with the average yield across the curve remaining unchanged at 6.35 percent. The average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed flat at 4 percent, 5.56 percent, and 8.41 percent, respectively.
In the OMO bills market, the average yield across the curve increased by one basis point to close at 9.65 percent as against the last close of 9.64 percent. Mild selling pressure was seen across the long-term maturities with the average yield rising by 2 basis points. However, the average yields across short-term and medium-term maturities closed at 9.35 percent and 9.59 percent, respectively. OMO 8-Feb-22 maturity bill witnessed selling pressure with the yield increasing by 17 basis points, while the yields on 21 bills remained unchanged.
Bonds
Also, the FGN bonds secondary market closed on a flat note on Wednesday. The average bond yield across the curve closed flat at 9.94. In addition, average yields across short tenor, medium tenor, and long tenor of the curve remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, the DMO conducted its scheduled FGN bond auction midweek to reopen the 10-year, 15-year, and 30-year instrument. A total of N150 billion was offered across 10-year (N50 billion), 15-year (N50 billion), and 30-year (N50 billion) tenors. The bond settlement will take place on June 25.