Bearish sentiments dominated activities on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange last week, as concerns about the increase in yields in the FI market made investors sell down their portfolio. the local bourse recorded losses in all of the trading sessions of the week.
Trading in the top three equities namely Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, First Bank Holding Plc and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria accounted for 859.867 million
shares worth N4.250 billion in 2,459 deals, contributing 31.08% and 14.32% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The All-Share Index shed 1.7% to close at 41,709.09 points. Activity levels were however strong, as trading volumes rose by 7.4% while value traded rose by 6.4% w/w.
Sell offs in WAPCO, ZENITH, NESTLE and DANGCEM drove the weekly loss closing at -11.2%, 4.4%, -3.7% and -2.5% respectively. Sectoral performance was broadly negative as all sectors closed in the red. The Insurance (-6.0%) index led the losers chart followed by Consumer Goods (-3.2%), Banking (-2.3%), Industrial Goods (-2.1%) and Oil and Gas (-0.2%) indices.
Market analysts at Cordros Capital say with the moderation in the prices of bellwether stocks last week, savvy investors are expected to make re-entry ahead of their FY 2020 earnings announcement by taking advantage of the development.
They advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the unimpressive macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings’’.
