The bearish sentiment in the equities market persisted this week, making it the fifth consecutive week in the red zone. The NSEASI declined by 6.38% at the close of this week’s trading, dragging the year to date return to the negative territory at -3.73%. However, volume and value of transactions advanced by 13.54% and 46.28% respectively. The market breadth pegged at 0.48x, as there were twenty-five (25) gainers and fifty-two (52) losers respectively.
ETERNA outperformed other stocks this week; the counter gained 20.11% to close at NGN6.33. Also on the top gainers’ list this week were CCNN (+16.46%), MBENEFIT (+8.57%), JAIZBANK (+6.35%) and DANGSUGAR (+5.76%). In contrast, INTBREW led the laggards, losing 22.39% to close at NGN40.20. WAPCO, FO, NB, and NESTLE also declined by 16.05%, 13.64%, 10.75%, and 10.63% respectively on the losers’ list.
The industrial goods sector, measured by the NSEIND index, declined significantly by 6.90%. Others such as banking (NSEBNK10), consumer goods, and the oil & gas sectors also dropped by 3.37%, 5.23%, and 0.91% respectively. The insurance sector however bucked the trend, as it advanced marginally by 0.10%.
Selling pressure dominated the Nigerian equities market this week, in line with the prevalent bearish mood which saw the market record weekly loss in the entire month of May. Profit taking, especially on the heavily weighted stocks in the industrial and consumer goods sectors dragged the year to date return to the negative zone