At the end of yesterday’s trading session, the Nigerian All Share Index closed the day in red, declining by 0.19% to close at 51,805.41 points after the bullish sentiment over the 18 consecutive trading days.
Yesterday’s performance was due to profit-taking in large-cap stocks such as MTNN (-3.61%) and ZENITHBANK (-0.21%). Consequently, the YTD return decreased to 21.28% as market capitalisation fell by ₦52.35 billion to close at ₦27.93 trillion.
The sectoral performance strengthened as four of the five indices under coverage advanced. The Insurance index, the biggest gainer, rose by 2.14% on MANSARD (+4.55%). The Oil & Gas, Consumer Goods, and Industrial Indices, followed suit, rising by 0.97%, 0.78%, and 0.06% on OANDO (+7.14%), CADBURY (+9.73%) and WAPCO (+0.88%) respectively. Conversely, the Banking index, the only loser, fell by 0.06% on ZENITHBANK (-0.21%).
Investors’ sentiment strengthened as the market breadth increased to 2.77x from 1.76x. This was illustrated by the advance of 36 stocks, led by OKOMUOIL (+10.00%) and MAYBAKER (+10.00%) and the decline of 13 stocks, led by NAHCO (-4.12%) and GUINNESS (-9,59%). Activity level weakened as the total value and volume decreased by 1.79% and 9.34 respectively as investors exchanged about 331.52mn units of shares worth over ₦5.04bn.
We expect positive sentiment to return in the next trading session as the equities market still presents decent opportunities for investors chasing positive real returns on investments.
Fixed Income
There was mixed sentiment across the bond yield curve as two of the four bond papers under coverage compressed, the FGN-APR-2023 closed flat while the yield on the FGN-JUL-2030 inched higher by 1bp. The yields on the FGN-MAR-2024 and FGN-JAN-2026 bond paper compressed by 1bp and 11bps.
Treasury bill yields for the 91, 182, and 364-day papers closed flat at 2.51%, 3.51%, and 4.47% respectively.
We expect market activity to be influenced by the liquidity levels and foreign investors’ participation.
Market Snapshot
- Local Bourse loses Grip of its Positive Streak, NGX ASI Dips 19bps
- Mixed Sentiment across the Bond Yield Curve
- Mixed Performance in Global Stocks
- Commodities Market Closes in Red
- Negative Performance in African Stocks
