NSE 30 defies N301bn losses to Sell-offs in Airtel, DangCem, Zenith Bank
The pack of 30 most capitalised listed companies at the Nigerian Exchange Limited categorised as NSE 30 defied the negative mood of the market on Wednesday to steer clear of a N301 billion loss incurred by investors.
In the midst of Sell-offs that led to the general loss, the NSE 30 index appreciated by 0.39 per cent to close at 1,562.01 basis points as against 1,555.92 points as in the previous day.
In that segment of the equities market, market turnover closed with a traded volume of 66.18 million units.
While Seplat and Sterling stocks emerged as key gainers at the close of the midweek session, Dangote Sugar and Ecobank were the key losers.
Collectively however, the local bourse extended the previous sessions’ negative performance as the All-Share Index fell by 1.48 per cent to close at 38,446.09 points due to sell-offs in Airtel Africa (-10.0%), Dangote Cement (-0.5%), and Zenith Bank (-2.1%).
Consequently, the market’s year to date loss worsened to -4.5 per cent as market capitalisation declined to N20.04 trillion.
The level of trading activity was mixed as volume traded declined by 24.9 per cent to 153.6 million units while value traded increased by 32.9 per cent to 2.4 billion.
The most traded stocks by volume were UAC Nigeria (10.0m units), Zenith Bank (9.6m units), and Fidelity Bank (8.7m units) while Seplat petroleum (N1.1bn), Zenith Bank (N222.8m), and Wapco Plc (N111.8m) led by value.
Performance was bearish across sectors as 4 indicators lost while 2 gained. The ICT index led the laggards, down 5.2 per cent due to selling pressure on Airtel Africa (-10.0%). In the same vein, the banking and insurance indices fell by 0.6 per cent apiece mainly due to price depreciation in Zenith Bank (-2.1%), GTBank (-0.5%), Custodian Plc (-2.5%), and AIICO Insurance(-3.1%).
Similarly, the consumer goods index also lost, down 32 basis points following sell-offs in Dangote Sugar (-3.9%), and International Breweries (-0.9%). Alternatively, the oil & gas and industrial goods indices rose by 7.1 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively as a result of buying interest in Seplat Petroleum (+10.0%), MRS (+10.0%), and Dangote Cement (+0.5%).
On the other hand, investor sentiment strengthened to 0.9x from the 0.7x recorded in the previous trading session as 23 stocks gained while 25 lost. Seplat Petroleum (+10.0%), MRS (+10.0%), and Sterling Bank (+9.7%) led gainers while Airtel Africa (-10.0%), C&I Leasing (-10.0%), and BOC Gas (-10.0%) led decliners
