Profit taking drags market into the red as ASI down by 0.51%

 

Sustained profit taking by investors, dragged the domestic bourse into the red for the third consecutive trading session as the All Share Index shed 0.51 percent to settle at 41,243.24 points while year to date return moderated to 7.8 percent. Losses in International Breweries (-5.0 percent), Seplat Petroleum Development Company (-5.0 percent) and Zenith Bank (-2.1 percent) were the major drags to performance today. As a result, market capitalisation reduced to N15.0 trillion as investors lost N76.3 billion in value. Similarly, activity level waned as volume and value traded fell 7.1 percent and 19.3 percent to 352.9 million units and N4.1 billion respectively. Japaul Oil (80.3 million), Zenith Bank (59.9 million) and FBN Holdings (24.3 million) were the top traded stocks by volume while Zenith Bank (N1.8 billion), FBN Holdings (N301.2 million) and Guaranty Trust Bank (N210.7 million) were the top traded stocks by value.
Sector performance remained largely negative as 4 of 5 indices declined. The Oil & Gas index depreciated the most, losing 2.7 percent on the back of losses in Seplat Petroleum Development Company (-5.0 percent) while the Banking index was dragged 1.0 percent southward due to price depreciation in Zenith Bank (-2.1 percent) and ETI (-5.0 percent). Similarly, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices slid 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent due to sell offs in NEM (-2.5 percent), LASACO Insurance (-2.8 percent), International Breweries (-5.0 percent) and Nigerian Breweries (-0.7 percent). On the other hand, the Industrial Goods Index was the lone gainer, up 0.9 percent following gains recorded in Lafarge Africa (+1.5 percent) and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (+4.8 percent).
Investor sentiment waned today as market breath (advance/decline ratio) weakened to 0.7x from 2.0x recorded on Monday as 21 stocks advanced relative to 31 stocks that declined. The gainers’ chart was topped by GlaxoSmithKline (+10.2 percent), Wema Bank (+9.0 percent) and MRS Oil (+5.0 percent) while Diamond Bank (-7.3 percent), ETI (-5.0 percent), and International Breweries (-5.0 percent) led the losers’ chart.