(Greenwich Merchant Bank): Stocks fell for the fourth week in a row, as selloffs across the tickers tipped the market to its lowest level in the year. The NSE-ASI and market capitalization dipped by 1.0% WoW to 39,799.89 points and NGN20.8tn, their respective lows so far in 2021. As a result, the YtD return stood at -1.2%, its weakest since September last year.
Activity level picked up, as the average volume and value of transactions rose by 25.3% and 13.3% respectively to log at 386.0mn units and NGN4.1bn.
LASACO surged 192.9% WoW to NGN1.23, following its share reconstruction program, while AFRIPRUD was the worst-performing stock, after shedding 21.2% WoW to close at NGN5.75.
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The NSE sectorial performance was uneven, as the Oil & Gas sector led the advancers, with a gain of 1.0%, followed by the Banking sector (0.7%). Conversely, the Insurance (-4.9%), the Consumer Goods (-3.2%), and Industrial Goods (-0.5%) sectors all closed in red.
The local bourse commenced the week on the back foot, although, banking bellwethers – ZENITHBANK and GUARANTY – improved the mood mid-week, the bears were dominant in the two final trading days. This resulted in the market’s downturn which extended to its fourth weekly streak. That said, we note that the run-up in yields in the fixed income space has left the market awash in red.
With stock prices beaten down, we see opportunities for positioning in fundamentally sound counters and high dividend-yielding stocks, as more full-year corporate results are rolled-out. Despite this, we expect the market to trade range bound in the coming week.
