Dead cat bounce as equities gain N6bn to halt downtrend
There was a brief respite in the stock market on Tuesday as trading in the local bourse ended the day mixed but with bullish bias, equivalent to N6 billion for investors.
The All-Share Index (ASI) notched 10.77 points or a per cent gain to close at 40,164.86 basis points while market Cap recorded same uptick to end the session at N21.015 trillion.
Precisely, the positive earnings release from ZENITHBANK (+4.8 per cent) improved investors’ sentiments and supported market performance, despite sell-offs of NB (-8.5 per cent).
Consequently, the Month-to-Date (MtD) and Year-to-Date (YtD) losses moderated to -5.3 per cent and -0.3 per cent, respectively.
Activity level also trailed the green terriory following 16.8 per cent and 7.84 per cent rise in volume and value traded for the day 337.96 million share units, valued at N3.85 billion, and exchanged in 5,232 deals.
FBNH was the most traded stock by volume at 57.56 million units, while ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by value at N820.55 million.
Performance across sectors was mixed – the Consumer Goods (-1.6 per cent) and Insurance (-0.9 per cent) indices recorded declines, while the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices closed flat. The Banking (+1.7 per cent) index was the sole gainer.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment remained negative as 22 tickers declined, relative to 16 gainers.
LASACO (-9.9 per cent) and AFRIPRUD (-9.9 per cent) topped the losers’ list, while LIVESTOCK (+7.1 per cent) and AIICO (+7.1 per cent) recorded the largest gains of the day.
