MTN Nigeria, Ecobank, Dangote tumble, Bears take a grip on Nigerian Stocks

Nigerian bourse ended the week on a negative note with the benchmark index dipping by 1.46% to 34,136.82 points.

The market was mostly bearish on profit-taking from retail investors, notably on ZENITHBK (-1.73%) and MTNN (-1.29%). Consequently, year-to-date return and market capitalization settled at 27.60%, and N17.83 trillion, respectively.

A total volume of 344.9million units of shares, valued at N4.22billion exchanged hands in 6,565 deals. ZENITHBANK was the most traded shares by volume and value at 44.3million units and N1.13billion.

• Market sentiment was negative as market breadth came in at 2.4x as there were 34 decliners and 14 advancers.
• The sectorial performance was bearish as Industrial, Banking, Consumer Goods, Oil & Gas were down by 2.41%, 2.16%, 0.66%, and 0.31%, while the Insurance closed as the lone gainer, up by +1.59%.

Sector performance

• NSE Industrial Index: Down by -2.41% due to the price decline in BUACEMENT (-4.55%) and WAPCO (-2.39%).
• NSE Banking Index: Dipped by -2.16%, on sell-offs in ETI (-8.63%), FBNH (-5.23%), FIDELITY (-3.40%) and ZENITHBANK (-1.73%).
• NSE Consumer Goods Index: Fell by -0.6%, due to sustained losses in GLAXOSMITHKLINE (-5.41%), DANGSUGAR (-3.30%), and UNILEVER (-3.45%).
• NSE Oil & Gas Index: Shed -0.21%, as JAPAULOIL (-6.90%) and OANDO (-2.73%) declined in price.
• NSE Insurance Index: Up by +1.53%, on price appreciation in LINKASSURE (+10.00%), NEM (+9.79%), and AIICO (+9.78%).

Top gainers

1. IKEJAHOTEL up 10.00% to close at N1.1
2. AIICO up 9.78% to close at N1.01
3. NEM up 9.79% to close at N2.58
4. UPDCREIT up 9.21% to close at N4.15
5. NAHCO up 5.50% to close at N2.3

Top Losers

1. ETI down 8.63% to close at N6.35
2. BUACEMENT down 4.55% to close at N53.45
3. DANGSUGAR down 3.30% to close at N20.5
4. MTNN  down 1.29% to close at N153
5. DANGCEM down 0.92% to close at N193.2

Outlook

Nigerian Stocks dropped lower amid falling crude oil prices across the market spectrum.

• Nigerian Equities have been hit by relatively weak earning seen from Nigerian banks coupled with worsened fears that the COVID-19 outbreak hitting hard in Europe, one of Nigeria’s main trading partners.
• Nairametrics envisage cautious buying, amid a significant amount of profit-taking seen across the market spectrum.