Bearish sentiment prevails as NSE ASI declines by 0.77%
…as Zenith bank leads gainers, Mobil oil leads losers
Bearish sentiment which ushered in the week’s trading in the equities market was sustained or the third consecutive day on Wednesday as all market performance measuring indices closed in red.
The market trend was sustained following the bearish sentiments across most sectors.
The Nigerian equities market printed in the red for the third consecutive trading session of the week, losing -0.77%.
The market all share index closed lower at 43,538.16 , while the equities capitalization retreated to N15, 623,948,509,105.38
Meanwhile ,a total of 508,299,085.00 shares worth N4, 570,825,182.14 billion was transacted by investors in 6,155.00 deals. Bond market capitalization closed at N9, 663,207,069,523.47 billion, while capitalization of the ETF closed trade at N7, 610,280,651.48bn.
Market breadth index, a gauge for investor sentiments, was negative with 40 losers against 18 gainers.
Apart from the NSE Banking Index, which gained +0.59%, following the gains in ZENITHBANK 2.56%, UBN’s 2.42% gain , UBA’s 1.24% equity price growth and ETI’s 0.51%, gain, other sector indices recorded decline.
Top advancers for the day was led by UNILEVER with 4.96% to close at N47.6 per share, followed by ZENITHBANK, which gained 2.56% o lose at N32 per share, while appreciated by 9.71 per cent to close at N3.05 per share.
CCNN gained 1.33 per cent, closing at N19 per share, while GLAXOSMITH close the top five gainers table with 0.25 per cent, closing at N19.25 per share.
Top losers table was driven by MOBIL oil with 5.00% closing at N199.5 per share, followed by DANGCEM, which lost -2.22% of its share price to close at N264 per share, while NB declined by -2.00%, to close at N142 per share.
STANBIC dropped 3.51 per cent, closing at N45.35 per cent, while JBERGER closed the top five losers table with 4.58 per cent, to close trade at N26.05 per share.
Going forward, we expect the market to trade sideways even as investors continue to take positions in this earnings season.
Despite the sell-off we saw in the market recently, we believe this may present entry opportunities into our quality names for investors with a medium to longer term horizon.
Stories by Bonny Amadi
