Equities market declines by N84bn as NIBOR falls amid renewed liquidity ease

 

The Nigerian equities market losing streak extended for the third consecutive day as market capitalization shed N83.50 billion to close at N13.67 trillion even as the exchange recorded 20 loses against gainers.
Consequently, the year to date loss of All Share Index (ASI) increased to 1.33 percent.
Weakened shares of Tier 1 banks, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc, lowered the banking index by 0.72 percent.
However, activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 11.5 percent and 40.0 percent to 414.9 million units and N4.5 billion respectively. Top traded stocks by volume was Champion Breweries (140.4 million), Sterling Bank (47.8 million) and Zenith Bank (26.2 million) while Guaranty Trust Bank (N921.6 million), Zenith Bank (N651.8 million) and Dangote Cement (N599.5 million) were the most traded stocks by value.
The performance across sectors was largely bullish as 3 of 5 indices trended northwards. The Industrial Goods, Consumer Goods and Insurance indices were today’s gainers, up 1.4 percent, 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent respectively, buoyed by bargain hunting in International Breweries (+3.3 percent), Lafarge Africa (+5.0 percent), Unilever Nigeria (+2.5 percent) and Nigerian Breweries (+0.5 percent).
On the flipside, the banking index was the sole loser, shedding 0.7 percent on the back of sell-offs in Guaranty Trust Bank (-1.6 percent), Zenith Bank (-0.4 percent) and DiamondBank (-3.5 percent). The Oil & Gas index closed flat, halting its six days of consecutive losses.
Today’s top advancers were Honeywell Flower Mills (+9.5 percent), Law Union Insurance (+9.3 percent) and AIICO Insurance (+5.0 percent) while Equity Assurance (-4.5 percent), Wema Bank (-4.1 percent) and Diamond Bank (-3.5 percent) were the worst performers.
However, in the money market, Nigerian Inter-Bank Offered Rate (NIBOR) fell for all tenor buckets amid renewed financial system liquidity eased while Nigerian Inter-Bank Treasury bill True Yield (NITTY) moved in different directions across maturities tracked.
Elsewhere, Over The Counter (OTC) FGN Bonds moved in mixed directions across maturities tracked while FGN Euro bonds rose for most maturities tracked on renewed buy pressure.