The Nigerian Exchange was a carnage, with the local market ending in the red. The market suffers a N237 billion loss as investors begin to adjust their portfolios in the midst of the third-quarter reporting season.
The outpouring of earnings reports, according to stockbrokers, fuelled negative sentiments, with the benchmark index falling by 1.06% week on week, finishing below 43,912.64 points.
According to market experts at Cowry Asset Management Limited, this happens when investors enter the sectoral rotation as year-end seasonality approaches. The week’s stock market loss was fueled in part by investors’ choice to take profits in Dangote and Airtel Africa, which topped the 31 equities that fell last week.
Airtel Africa has experienced significant price depreciation despite its successful share repurchase, as investors seek value in its shares listed on the London Stock Exchange – after vast price disparities and a weak Naira.
According to local bourse trading statistics, the Nigerian Exchange All-share index fell 1.1% last week to 43,912.64 points. The drop in key performance indicators has an impact on stock market returns.
According to Afrinvest’s market analysis, year-to-date returns have softened to 2.8%, down from 3.9% the previous week, while market capitalization has decreased by 236.6 billion to 23.9 trillion. Stockbrokers reported a drop in trading activity, with average volume and value moved falling 36.1% and 14.8%, respectively, to 119.8 million units and 2.8 trillion.
The top traded stocks by volume were MBENEFIT (95.8m units), STERLING (40.5m units), and TRANSCORP (27.0m units) while AIRTELAF (₦3.9bn), MTNN (₦1.8bn), and GEREGU (₦1.3bn) topped the value table.
In its market report, stockbrokers at Atlass Portfolios noted that investors’ buying interest was dominant in three, out of the five-trading day of the week. NEM emerged as the top loser for the week, declining by -15.16%, followed by HONYFLOUR which fell by -11.25%.
Still, on the losers’ chart, UNILEVER, PHARMDEKO, ROYALEX, NGXGROUP, UCAP, ACCESS, and OANDO also recedes by -10.42%, – 9.76%, -9.64%, -4.42%, -4.40%, – 4.35% and -2.00% respectively. READ: Nigerian Exchange in Bloodbath as ‘Big Names’ Drive Losses
Furthermore, three out of the five major sectors closed bearish, led by the Insurance sector (-2.38%), followed by the Consumer goods Sector (-0.36%), and the Oil & Gas sector (-0.24%). The Industrial and Banking sectors expanded by 0.34% and 0.07% respectively.
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, weakened to -0.02x from 0.04x recorded last week as 29 stocks gained, 31 lost while 92 were unchanged. The top-performing stocks for the week were RTBRISCO (+17.9%), BUACEMENT (+12.9%), and FTNCOCOA (+11.1%).
For this week, Afrinvest anticipates extended bearish momentum as investors continue to rotate into high-yielding fixed-income assets.
