Nigeria equities declined for the fourth consecutive trading session Thursday as market benchmark index, NSEASI contracted by 49 basis points (bps) to close at 43,326.89 points while market capitalization lost N75.8 billion to settle at N15.5 trillion.
The day’s performance consequently pared year-to-date (YTD) return to 13.3 percent.
Sell-offs across board especially in NESTLE (-5.0%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-3.2%) and FBNH (-1.6%) weigh the most on performance.
However, activity level improved as volume and value traded surged 336.9 percent and 64.0 percent to 2.2 billion units and N7.4 billion respectively.
Sector performance was mixed as three of five indices under coverage closed in the red while two trended northwards. Consumer goods index led the losers’ chart, falling 2.0 percent following sell pressure in NESTLE (-5.0%) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-3.2%).
The insurance index trailed, down 0.6 percent on the back of price depreciation in WAPIC (-4.4%) and AIICO (-4.8%). Also, the banking index fell 0.1 percent as UBN (-2.4%), DIAMOND (-4.8%) and FIDELITY (-3.2%) all closed southwards.
On the flip side, the industrial goods index trended 0.3 percent higher, buoyed by uptick in DANGCEM (+0.4%) while the oil & gas index rose 0.6 percent due to gains in FORTE (+4.9%).
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved to 0.7x from 0.5x recorded the previous session consequent on 17 stocks advancing against 26 decliners.
The top performing stocks were UNITY (+9.4%), FORTE (+4.9%) and ROYALEX (+4.8%) while SKYE (-8.9%), HMARKINS (-5.3%) and NESTLE (-5.0%) were the worst performers.
Analysts say improving market breadth and turnover suggest some investors are taking advantage on the week long sell-off to buy into stocks with attractive valuation. They therefore expect the ‘Buy the Dip” sentiment to buoy performance in subsequent sessions.
In the NASD OTC Exchange, total Volume and value traded stood at 801,424 units and N15.2m respectively. The SDAFRILAND, SDCSCSPLC and SDNDEP were the only instruments that traded.
