The seven days continuous streak of gains seen on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) equity market was broken on Thursday, as investor sentiment weakened, with the market recording its first loss in eight trading sessions.
Losses were recorded in both blue chip stocks like DANGCEM (-0.59%), ZENITH (-0.59%), WAPCO (-1.28%) and penny stocks like CHIPLC (-0.34%), LASACO (-6.06%) and LIVESTOCK (-4.76%) etc.
Investors wealth declined for the first time since 18 August 2020, as the market capitalization dropped by N13.484 billion on Thursday to settle at N13.201 trillion.
The All Share Index (ASI) contracted by 0.10% to close at 25,304.25.
Activity level
The activity level improved, spurred by astonishing trades in UACN. The total volume and value of traded shares rose by 39% and 16% respectively on Thursday, from the figures recorded on Wednesday.
251,295,735 units of shares worth N1,579,180,913.10 were traded in 2,954 deals on Thursday. The number of deals extended its decline at a rate of 13.40%, a higher rate than seen on Tuesday and Wednesday.
UACN accounted for 44.52% of the total volume and 40.73% of the total value of shares traded on the Exchange on Thursday. Total of 111.873 million units of UACN worth N643.188 million exchanged hands in 58 deals.
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3 out of the top five most traded stocks by volume were banking stocks, with UBA maintaining its second position.
UACN was followed in volume by UBA (24.966 million shares worth N159.480 million traded in 175 deals) and FBNH (20.897 million shares valued at N104.540 million traded in 197 deals).
In terms of value, four out of the top five were banking stocks, with UBA taking the second position followed by ZENITH with 7.444 million shares worth N125.730 million exchanging hands in 219 deals.
Performance of Indices under our watch
Only two indices under our watch appreciated, two declined with one closing flat.
The Insurance Index returned to gain after recording a decline on Wednesday. Spurred by the 6.36% rise in MANSARD, the Index rose by 0.64% to close at 131.59.
Consumer Goods Index extended the rise seen on Wednesday by further 0.52% to close at 427.83 whereas Industrial goods Index was down by 0.37% to close at 1,119.18 due to losses recorded DANGCEM AND WAPCO
The Banking Index declined by 0.33% to close at 292.88, as ZENITH, ACCESS, ETI, FIDELITY and others, graced the decliners table.
The Oil and Gas index closed flat at 187.36 for the fourth time this week. The Index has neither appreciated nor declined during the week.
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Investor sentiment
Investor sentiment as measured by market breath (gain/loss ratio) weakened on Thursday to 0.58x, from the multi months high (3x) recorded on Wednesday.
Only 11 stocks advanced on Thursday with 19 declining, contrary to 24 stocks which advanced on Wednesday with only 8 declining.
The top five gainers by percentage are;
- MAYBAKER rose by 9.89% to close at N3.00
- UPL rose by 9.40% to close at N1.63 – second consecutive appearance on top gainers table
- MANSARD rose by 6.36% to close at N1.84
- JAIZBANK rose by 5.00% to close at N0.63
- NB rose by 2.78% to close at N37.00
The top five decliners by percentage are;
- CHIPLC lost 8.11% to close at N0.34
- FIDSON lost 7.25% to close at N3.71
- LASACO lost 6.06% to close at N0.31
- LIVESTOCK lost 4.76% to close at N0.60
- CHAMS lost 4.55% to close at N0.21
Analyst’s view
We expect the weak market performance to continue in the short term, as profit taking and bargain hunting combine to dictate the market pattern.
Written by;
Ifunanya Ikueze
