Selloffs in Stanbic IBTC, NB, Zenith Bank cost investors N41.3bn on Nigeria bourse

By Charles Abuede

• Naira trades flat at I&E, CBN official windows

The Nigerian equities market continues its staggering movement on the back of mixed sentiment as investors anticipate the release of audited company financials due to start hitting the market before the end of the month. Despite some hints of gains, the bears regained their dominance within the space, as investors continue to sell down on counters in the consumer goods and banking sectors.

Market investors lost N41.3 billion on Tuesday following the bearish sentiment in the domestic bourse which returned to drive the benchmark index by 19 basis points to 40,494.35 points on the back of sell-offs in Stanbic IBTC (-4.4%), Nigerian Breweries (-3.3%), and Zenith Bank(-0.6%). Consequently, the market year to date return declined to 0.6 per cent while market capitalisation inched lower by N41.3 billion to settle at N21.184 trillion from the N21.225 trillion on the previous day.

On the contrary, there was a positive improvement in the market activity level as volume and value traded advanced 72.8 per cent and 166.3 per cent respectively to 356.4 million units and N5.8 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were GTBank (46.2million units), First Bank Holdings (35.3million units) and Dangote Sugar (26.8million units) while GTBank (N1.4billion), Seplat Petroleum (N1.2billion) and Zenith Bank (N652.6 million) led by value.

Further afield, mixed market performance was seen as 3 indices out of 6 closed lower on Tuesday. On sectoral performance, the insurance and the consumer goods indices lost the most with 1.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively resulting from declines in WapicPlc(-8.3%), Cornerstone Plc (-10.0%) and Nigerian Breweries (-3.3%). In the same way, the banking index inched lower by 0.3 per cent following losses in Stanbic IBTC (-4.4%) and Zenith Bank (-0.6%). On the other hand, the oil & gas and industrial goods indices recorded an uptick by 1.1 per cent and 1 basis point, apiece, as Seplat Petroleum (+0.8%) and Chemic and Allied Products (+5.6%) ticked higher. Nevertheless, the ICT index closed unchanged from the previous close.

Furthermore, there was a weakened sentiment from market investors on Tuesday to 1.1x from the 2.3x recorded on Monday as 22 stocks took profit against the 20 that lost. However, topping the gainers’ chart were Learn Africa (+9.3%), ArdovaPlc (+9.1%) and Multiverse (+8.3%), while Cornerstone Insurance (-10%), United Properties and Development Company (-10.0%) and Consolidated Health Insurance Plc (-9-5%) were atop the losers table.

The NSE 30

Meanwhile, the NSE 30 Index decreased by 0.27 per cent to close at 1,629.94 points as against 1,634.42 points on the previous day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 207.62 million units. Guinness and Fidelity were the key gainers, while Stanbic IBTC and Ecobank were the key losers.

FX market

In the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, the naira traded flat at N379 to a dollar at the CBN official market while at the I&E FX market, naira remained unchanged at N409.67. Consequently, most market participants maintained bids of between N390.00 and N422.99 per dollar.

T-Bills market

The NT-Bills secondary market closed on a bullish note with average yield across the curve declining by 4 basis points to close at 1.46 per cent from 1.50 per cent the previous day. The average yield across medium-term maturities compressed by 19 basis points, while average yields across the short-term and long-term maturities, closed flat at 0.57 per cent and 2.00 per cent, respectively.

However, the day’s trading was influenced by buying interest in the 15-Jul-21 maturity bill with a yield decline of 75 basis points, while yields on 19 bills remained unchanged.

In the OMO bills market, yields continued to ease as investors positioned on the short end of the market. Thus, the average yield across the curve declined by 14 basis points to close at 6.32 per cent, down from the previous day’s close of 6.46 per cent. Buying interest was seen across short-term maturities with the average yield falling by 48 basis points, while the average yields across the medium-term and long-term maturities closed flat at 5.08 per cent and 7.84 per cent, respectively. Yields on 4 bills compressed with the 23-Mar-21 maturity bill recording the highest yield decline of 116 basis points, while yields on 15 bills remained unchanged.

Bonds market

Ahead of the DMO auction on Wednesday, the FGN bonds secondary market closed on a negative note as the average bond yield across the curve cleared higher by 7 basis points to close at 5.27 per cent from 5.20 per cent on the previous day. Average yields across the short tenor, medium tenor, and long tenor of the curve increased by 3 basis points, 29 basis points, and 11 basis points, respectively. The 23-JUL-2030 maturity bond was the best performer with a decline in yield of 9 basis points, while the 22-JAN-2026 maturity bond was the worst performer with an increase in yield of 131 basis points.