Sustained sell-offs in the banking stocks led to N192.7bn lost for investors on Wednesday

Charles Abuede

Market investors lost about N193 billion on Wednesday from sustained sell-offs in major tickers in the local bourse as the benchmark index fell 0.92 per cent to close at 39,433.81 points following sell-offs in banking stocks such as Stanbic IBTC (-10.0%), GTBank (-3.7%), and Zenith Bank (-3.2%). Consequently, market year to date loss worsened to -2.1 per cent while market capitalisation fell to N20.6 trillion.

Similarly, the level of trading activity declined as total daily volume and value traded fell 18.0 per cent and 24.8 per cent to 349.6 million units and 3.5 billion respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were First Bank Holding (71.3m units), Access Bank (40.9m units) and Eko Corp Plc (40.0m units) while Zenith Bank (544.4m), First Bank Holding (523.8m), and GTBank (464.7m) led by value.

Across the sectoral front, the performance was poor as 5 out of 6 sector indices closed red. The industrial goods index was the lone gainer, appreciating by 29 basis points on the back of a 5.2 per cent gain in Wapco Plc. On the other hand, the banking, ICT, and consumer goods indices declined 1.7 per cent, 1.2 per cent, and 0.5 per cent respectively due to sell-offs in GTBank (-3.7%), CWG Plc (-9.6%) and Unilever Plc (-8.2%). Also, the oil & gas and insurance indices lost 15 basis points and 5 basis points respectively on the back of price declines in Oando Plc (-2.0%) and Aiico insurance (-3.9%).

Meanwhile, the investor sentiment as measured by market breadth, weakened to 0.7x from the 1.4x recorded in the previous session as 16 stocks advanced while 22 declined. Lasaco Insurance (+9.6%), Linkage Assurance (+9.4%) and Caverton Offshore Plc (+9.1%) were the top gainers, while Stanbic IBTC (-10.0%), CWG Plc (-9.6%) and Unilever Plc (-8.2%) top the decliners table.

NSE 30

At the close of trading on Wednesday, the NSE 30 Index decreased by 1.17 per cent to close at 1,577.75 points as against 1,596.47 points as on the previous day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 219.28 million units. Sterling Bank and Guinness Nigeria Plc were the key gainers, while Stanbic IBTC and Unilever Plc were the key losers.

FX market

In the currency market, the Naira appreciated by 0.12 per cent as the dollar was quoted at N410.50 as against the last close of N411 per dollar at the investors and Exporters’ window. Although, the currency flat at the official CBN window at N379 to a dollar, most market participants maintained bids between N395 and N422 per dollar.

Treasury Bills

Elsewhere at the NT-Bills secondary market, buying interest was witnessed during trade as it closed on a positive note with average yield across the curve decreasing by 2 basis points to close at 4.72 per cent from 4.74 per cent on the previous day. The average yield across the long-term maturities declined by 5  basis points due to buying interest witnessed in the NTB 11-Nov-21 maturity bill (-45bps). However, the average yield across short-term and medium-term maturities closed flat at 2.92 per cent and 3.54 per cent, respectively.

In the OMO bills market, the average yield across the curve increased by 6 basis points to close at 8.10 per cent as against the last close of 8.04 per cent. Selling pressure was seen across long-term maturities with the average yield rising by 11 basis points. However, the average yields on short-term and medium-term maturities closed flat at 4.72 per cent and 7.22 per cent, respectively. Yields on 8 bills advanced with the 11-Jan-22 maturity bill recording the highest yield increase of 49 basis points, while yields on 19 bills remained unchanged.

Bond market

Also, the FGN bonds secondary market closed on a mildly negative note Wednesday, as the average bond yield across the curve cleared higher by 5  basis points to close at 8.80 per cent from 8.75 per cent on the previous day. Average yields across medium tenor and long tenor of the curve expanded by 25 basis points and 8 basis points, respectively. However, the average yield across the short tenor of the curve remained unchanged. The 26-APR-2049 maturity bond was the best performer with a decrease in the yield of 12 basis points, while the 26-APR-2029 maturity bond was the worst performer with an increase in the yield of 49  basis points.