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Mixed corporate results so far have been underwhelming and it is no surprise that investors’ sentiment on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has remained weak, as a result, N142 billion was shaved off the market capitalisation during the week.
Trading had started the week on a bullish note, as the All Share Index (ASI) widened by 0.11 per cent to 27,950.36 points – the first Monday gain since March 11, 2019 – following investors’ bargain hunting in bellwether stocks (Nestle, GT Bank, UBA, and FBN Holdings).
Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses moderated to 6.73 and 11.07 per cent respectively while market capitalisation increased by N16 billion to settle at N13.621 trillion.
Tuesday’s session saw sell-offs in the shares of Nigerian Breweries, Nestle and GT Bank pushing the benchmark index down by 0.46 per cent to close at 27,820.57 points.
Consequently, market capitalisation declined by N63 billion to N13.558 trillion while YTD loss worsened to -11.5 per cent.
The equities market continued its bearish performance on Wednesday as sell pressures in bellwethers dragged the benchmark index 0.37 per cent Southwards to settle at 27,745.92 points while the YTD return worsened to -11.8 per cent.
Accordingly, investors lost N51 billion in value as market capitalisation fell to N13.507 trillion.
However, gains in the shares of MTNN, Dangote Sugar and NASCON lifted the ASI by 0.11 per cent to 27,748.46 points on Thursday.
Consequently, the YTD loss settled at -11.7 per cent while investors gained N15 billion as market capitalisation rose to N13.522 trillion.
Friday’s session saw the bears taking over as the benchmark index slipped by 0.43 per cent to close at 27,630.46 points while markert capitalisation dropped N58 billion to close at N13.464 trillion.
Reacting, the Group Chief Executive Officer, United Capital Plc, Peter Ashade, said that the initial euphoria around the listing of MTN and Airtel triggered a momentary rally in the market.
He noted that immediately the euphoria thinned out, the market reverted to its bearish position as foreign investors continued to snub equities due to deeper concerns about the policy framework of the government.
Ashade said: “In terms of what the Exchange can do to turn this around, we believe it needs to continue to encourage big-ticket listing like that of MTN and Airtel. The Exchange can also target huge non-listed entities such as DSTV, Shoprite, as operators in the rapidly growing digital economy to boost newer listings.
“To trigger a rally, we need to sort out concerns around multiple exchange rates, government revenue and other related issues to bolster interest in equities”.
Cordros Capital, however, said: “Amidst mixed corporate earnings, our outlook for equities in the short to medium term remains conservative”.
For their part, analysts at Afrinvest said: “We do not expect the bullish performance as investors have continued to maintain a risk-off approach towards equities”.
At the close of transactions on Friday, 17 stocks declined while 17 others advanced. Continsure topped the losers’ chart with 9.95 per cent to close at N1.72 per share, AG Leventis was next with 9.38 per cent to close at 0.29 kobo, Jaiz Bank dropped 6.82 per cent to close at 0.41 kobo, Conoil decreased by 5.58 per cent to close at N18.60 while Wema Bank fell by 4.76 per cent to close at 0.60 kobo.
On the flipside, Cileasing led the gainers with 10 per cent to close at N6.05 per share. Japaul oil followed with 10 per cent to close at 0.22 kobo, Trans Express notched up 10 per cent to close at 0.77 kobo, Berger increased by 9.60 per cent to close at N6.85 while Union Diagnostics appreciated by 9.09 per cent to close at 0.24 kobo.
Overall, the volume and value of stocks stood at 161.65 million units and N4.80 billion respectively, in 3,088 deals.
MTNN topped the activity chart with the sale of 25.36 million shares worth N3.22 billion. Zenith Bank traded 16.94 million shares valued at N310.30 million while Access Bank sold 15.88 million shares worth N98.53 million.
