Yesterday, the equities market advanced by 12bps, as the NSE-ASI closed at 24858.89 points. As such, the YTD return improved slightly to -7.4%. Also, investors gained N15.6bn as the market capitalization closed at N13.0tn.
In terms of market activity, the total volume traded appreciated by 24.8% to 158.7bn units while total value traded declined by 24.1% N1.6bn.
In terms of sector performance, there was mixed performance across the sectors under our coverage. Notably, the two sectors gained while three recorded losses. The Consumer Goods sector (+1.9%) led the gainers’ league as PZ (+9.1%) and NESTLE (+4.7%) gained.
The Insurance sector (+0.2%) increased marginally as WAPIC (+9.4%) gained. On the other side of the spectrum, the Banking sector (-1.2%) recorded the highest level of losses as WEMA (+5.0%) and ETI (-4.8%) declined.
Similarly, the Oil and Gas sector (-0.6%) ended the day in the red territory on the back of price depreciation in ARDOVA (-10.0%) while the Industrial Goods sector (-0.1%) declined as WAPCO (-1.8%) erased gains in CUTIX (+10.0%).
In all, the Nigerian equities market has experienced a roller coaster ride in H1-2020.
Going into H2-2020, we believe the path remains gloomy for the Nigerian equities market, amid pressure on corporate earnings, concerns about t the exchange rate and the second wave of the pandemic. As a result, we expect the market to remain highly volatile and ‘short-term gain’ driven.
United Capital Plc Research
