Nigeria equities opened weak on selloffs in large caps DangCem, FBN, Flour Mills

By Charles Abuede

Equities Trading

The Nigerian equities market halted a five-days positive run as bulls took a breather on Monday with a 0.23 per cent drop as the NSE All-Share Index closed at 41,082.38 points following profit-taking in Dangote Cement (-1.0%), FBN Holding (-3.9%) and Flour Mill (-5.5%).

As a result, the market year to date return fell to two per cent while market capitalisation declined by N39.6 billion to settle at N21.5 trillion.

Activity level was mixed as the total volume traded rose 10.8 per cent to 738.5 million units while value traded fell 34.8 per cent to N4.2 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were Universal Insurance (51.8 million units), Transnational Corporation (43.1 million units) and FBN Holding (39.8 million units) while Zenith Bank (N820.1 million), GTBank (N422 million) and Access Bank (N303 million) topped by value.

Across the sectors in the market, there was a mixed performance as three indices gained, two lost and one closed flat. The insurance index maintained dominance, advancing six per cent due to buying interest in AXA Mansard (+5.6%), AIICO Insurance (+10.0%) and Wapic Plc (+9.1%). Similarly, the oil & gas and banking indices rose two basis points and one basis point respectively due to price uptick in Oando Plc (+0.3%), GTBank (+1.8%) and Ecobank (+0.8%). Conversely, the consumer and industrial goods indices lost 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively following losses in Flour Mill (-5.5%), International Breweries (-2.2%) and Dangote Cement (-1.0%). Lastly, the AFR-ICT index closed flat.

Meanwhile, investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) weakened to 1.7x from the 3.4x recorded in the last trading session as 35 stocks advanced against 21 decliners. African Insurance Group (+10.0%), Transport Express Company (+10.0%) and Universal Insurance (+10.0%) were the best-performing stocks, while Flour Mill (-5.5%), Wema Bank (-5.3%) and Neimeth Pharmaceuticals (-4.8%) were the losers.

Furthermore, the NSE 30 Index shrank by 0.14 per cent to close at 1,684.82 points as against 1,687.18 points on the previous trading day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 234.59 million units. GTBank and Lafarge Africa were the key gainers, while Flour Mills and FBNH were the key losers.

Currency Trading

In the currency market, the local currency traded at N475 to the dollar at the street market on Monday and appreciated by 0.21 per cent at the Importers’ & Exporters’ window as the dollar was quoted at N393.83 as against the last close of N394.67. Also, at the CBN official window, the naira closed at N379 to a dollar as most participants maintained bids between N389 and N414.76 per dollar.

T-Bills Trading

The NT-Bills secondary market closed on a positive note with average yield across the curve decreasing by 11 basis points to close at 0.40 per cent from 0.51 per cent on the previous day. Average yield across long-term maturities declined by 25 basis points, while average yield across medium-term maturities expanded by three basis points.

However, the average yield across short-term maturities closed flat at 0.19 per cent. Yields on 9 bills declined with the 25-Nov-21 maturity bill recording the highest yield decline of 43 basis points, while yields on 8 bills remained unchanged.

In the OMO bills market, the average yield across the curve decreased by 8 basis points to close at 0.70 per cent from 0.78 per cent on the previous day. Buying interest was seen across medium-term and long-term maturities with the average yields falling by six basis points, and 14 basis points, respectively. However, the average yield across short-term maturities closed flat at 0.25 per cent. Yields on five bills declined with the 24-Aug-21 maturity bill recording the highest yield decrease of 75 basis points, while yields on 16 bills remained unchanged.

Bonds Trading

FGN bonds secondary market closed on a negative note Monday, as the average bond yield across the curve cleared higher by 10 basis points to close at 3.41 per cent from 3.31 per cent on the previous trading session. Average yields across short tenor and medium tenor of the curve expanded by seven basis points and 33 basis points respectively, while average yield across long tenor of the curve decreased by six basis points. The 27-MAR-2050 maturity bond was the best performer with a decrease in the yield of 40 basis points, while the 26-APR-2029 maturity bond was the worst performer with an increase in yield of 81 basis points.