Nigerian stocks end near stalemate, despite gains from Nestle, Airtel, Dangote

Nigerian bourse ended Monday’s trading session near a stalemate, as the All Share Index dropped slightly by 0.04% to close at 34,121.78 points. Thus, the YTD performance currently stands at 27.56%.

A total volume of 568million units of shares, valued at N7.32billion exchanged hands in 8,928 deals. ZENITHBANK was the most traded shares by volume and valued at 79.7million units and N1.91billion.

• Market sentiment was negative, as market breadth came in at 9.2x  with 46 decliners and 5 advancers.
• The sectorial performance was bearish as Banking, Consumer Goods, Insurance, Oil & Gas were down by 4.72%, 2.07%, 2.07%, and 1.62% respectively, while the Industrial index closed as the lone gainer, up by +2.72%.

Sector performance

• NSE Banking Index: Down by -4.72%, on sell-offs in WEMABANK (-9.09%), ACCESS (-8.14%), UBA (-6.10%), and ZENITHBANK (-5.66%).
• NSE Consumer Goods Index: Fell by -2.07%, due to sustained losses in GUINNESS (-9.55%), PZ (-9.43%), and FLOURMILL (-8.43%).
• NSE Insurance Index: Dipped by -2.07%, on price decline in CUSTODIAN (-10.00%), CHIPLC (-9.38%), and LINKASSURE (-9.09%).
• NSE Oil & Gas Index: Dipped by -1.62%, as ARDOVA (-10.00%) and OANDO (-9.97%) declined in price.
• NSE Industrial Index: Up by +2.72% due to the price appreciation in BUACEMENT (+4.77%) and DANGCEM (+3.42%)

Top gainers

1. AIRTELAFRI up 5.00% to close at N500
2. BUACEMENT up 4.77% to close at N53.45
3. DANGCEM up 3.42% to close at N193.2
4. NESTLE up 1.82% to close at N1400
5. NEM up 0.78% to close at N2.6

Top Losers

1. ARDOVA down 10.00% to close at N13.5
2. WAPCO down 10.00% to close at N22.05
3. GUINNESS down 9.55% to close at N18
4. FLOURMILL down 8.47% to close at N25.4
5. STANBIC down 8.02% to close at N39.55

Outlook

Nigerian Stocks began the first trading session on a slightly bearish note, amid soaring oil prices prevailing at the U.S trading session. At the time of writing this report, Brent crude was trading above $45/barrel.

• That said, significant gains seen from NSE30 Stocks that include Nestle, Airtel, Dangote, BUACement couldn’t stop Nigerian stocks from closing slightly red, as sell-offs intensified among top brewery stocks and medium capitalized stocks.
• Nairametrics envisage cautious buying, on the sentiments that recent price action shows further market correction in the near term, however, stock traders anticipate the bullish run is still in play for the long term.