In the just concluded week, sentiment remained negative in the market as equities sell-off persisted despite the dividend announcement by corporates.
Notably, yields at the fixed income space continue to move upwards as the stop rate for the 364-day treasury bill rose to 6.5% (from 5.5%); hence, investor appetite for stocks weakened.
Against this backdrop, the ll-Share Index moderated by 2.89% w-o-w to 38,648.48 points, while the year-to-date loss worsened to -4.03%. Losses were broad-based as all sub-indices tracked closed in red territory except for the NSE Industrial index which rose by 1.34% to 1,923.55 points.
The NSE Banking index plunged by 7.58% to 353.75 points. Also, the NSE Consumer Goods, NSE Insurance, and the NSE Oil/Gas indices tanked by 4.26%, 2.29% and 1.59% to close at 539.85 points, 197.46 points and 261.18 points respectively.
Meanwhile, trading activity was weak as total deals, volume and value of stocks traded fell by 13.21%, 22.61% and 30.73% to 21,036 deals, 1.61 billion shares and N20.60 billion respectively.
In the new week, we expect the domestic equities market to slip further as investors stay on the sidelines to target new support levels.
However, a decline in stop rate, especially for 364-day at the primary market auction, in the new week, may change trading dynamics in equities towards the end of the trading week.
