Sell-off in the Consumer Goods Sector Drags Equity Market to Shed 1.09%.

The equity market closed lower today, shedding 1.09% to halt uptrend of four consecutive trading days. The dip was aided by sell-off in major Consumer Goods sectors, among others. Market breadth closed negative, recording 21 gainers against 24 losers.

In summary, the All Share Index (ASI) was down by 404.95 absolute points, representing a dip of 1.09%, closing at 36,612.83 points. Similarly, the market capitalization decreased by N146.69 billion, representing a dip of 1.09%, closing at N13.26 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalized stocks, amongst which are; CAP (-10.00%), FIDELITYBK (-8.04%), ACCESS (-3.00%), UBA (-2.62%), NESTLE (-2.50%), DIAMONDBNK (-2.38%), NB (-1.90%), DANGCEM (-1.28%), DANGSUGAR (-1.18%), PZ (-0.66%) and GUARANTY (-0.37%).

MARKET STATISTICS

YTD:    -4.26

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

The Naira at the inter-bank rate closed at N305.95, representing a 0.02% depreciation against yesterday’s closing price.

The Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX window opened at N361.83, traded high at N363.50 and eventually closed at N362.33, representing a 0.02% appreciation against yesterday’s closing price. A total of $190.68 million was transacted through the I&E window today.

We expect the FX Market to trade within an existing range in the next session.

MONEY MARKET

Overnight (O/N) rate closed at 3.75%, representing a 5.83% depreciation against yesterday’s closing position, while Open Buy-Back (OBB) rate closed at 2.92% representing a 5.67% depreciation against yesterday’s closing position.

We expect the Money Market to trade within an existing range in the next session.