At the end of yesterday’s trading session, the Nigerian All Share Index closed in the red, falling by 0.11% to close at 49,991.41 points.
The performance was due to selling pressures in large-cap stocks such as WAPCO (-4.20%) and ZENITHBANK (-2.33%). Consequently, the YTD return decreased to 17.03% as market capitalisation fell by ₦29.12 billion to close at ₦26.96 trillion.
The sectoral performance weakened as three of the five indices under coverage declined while the Oil & Gas index closed flat. The Banking index, the biggest loser, fell by 0.91% on ZENITHBANK (-2.33%). The Industrial and Insurance indices followed suit, declining by 0.35% and 0.07% on WAPCO (-4.20%) and CORNERST (-1.47%) respectively. Conversely, the Consumer Goods index, the only gainer, improved by 0.38% on NB (+3.72%).
Investors’ sentiment weakened as the market breadth decreased to 0.75x from 2.30x. This was illustrated by the advance of 12 stocks, led by CHAMS (+7.69%) and FLOURMILL (+4.46%) and the decline of 16 stocks, led by ABCTRANS (-9.68%) and JAPAULGOLD (-9.09%). Activity level weakened as the total volume and value declined by 16.29% and 45.99%, as investors exchanged about 200.92mn units of shares worth over ₦1.45bn.
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 yields under coverage compressed, the yield on the the FGN-APR-2023 paper advanced by 291bps while the FGN-JUL-2030 bond yield closed flat. The yields on the FGN-MAR-2024 and FGN-JAN-2026 bond papers compressed by 1bp and 15bps respectively.
The Treasury bill yields for the 91 and 182-day papers compressed by 2bps and 1bp to close at 11.53% and 6.49% respectively while the 364-day paper closed flat at 6.78%.
We expect market activity to be influenced by the liquidity levels in the financial system.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
- Local Bourse Starts the Week Negative, NGX ASI Sheds 11bps
- Mixed Sentiment across the Bond Yield Curve
- Negative Performance in Global Stocks
- Commodities Market Closes in Green
- Positive Performance in African Stocks
