Nigerian benchmark index turned negative today. The index declined by 0.06% to 38,414.37 points. Thus, year-to-date return moderated to -4.61%, while the market capitalisation settled at N20.02 trillion. Investor sentiment as measured by the market breadth was negative at 1.05x on 19 advancers and 18 decliners.
The NGXASI declined on a slight sell-off in ZENITHBA (-0.65%) and WAPCO (-0.94%)
Volume and value traded grew by 36.15% and 24.50% to 274.81 million units and N2.63 billion, respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were UCAP (23.97 million units), VERITASKAP (23.11 million units) and ETERNA (21.57 million units), while ZENITHBA (N470.70 million), SEPLAT (N285.04 million) and GUARANTY (N240.72 million) topped the value chart.
Across coverage sectors, performance was bearish today. The NSE banking, consumer goods, industrials and oil & gas sectors declined by 13bps, 27bps, 6bps and 86bps while the NSE insurance sector gained 151bps.
We are likely to see continued bargain hunting as participants look to snap up good bargains.