ASI sheds 0.50% as equities post 4 week persistent losses

Tuesday, 10:21 AM and activities  in the equities market are starting to pick up with 28 deals consummated and the NSE ASI currently at 25, 985.97. With regards market activity, volume and value traded presently stands at 532,736 and N 3.605 m. Banking sector player, ACCESS stands as the top traded with a volume of 492,869 units at  N2.637 m.

Now it’s 2:30 PM, official closing time of the market. The equities market on the second business day of the week continues to paint the town red based on performance measured by the NSE All Share Index which dipped 0.50% to close at 25,857.06. WAPCO (-8.33%) was most influential with regards tugging the ASI downwards. Oil player, CONOIL (-4.99%) followed closely trailed by  OANDO (-4.89%), TRANSCORP (-4.82%) & INTBREW (-4.47%).

With 2,417 deals consummated, activity levels abated, with volume traded closing at 189.73 m (160.91m on Monday) while value traded is N 905,1m (N1.12 b on Monday). Market breadth similar to previous trading day is informed by nine gainers and nineteen losers.

Market capitalization as such dropped to 8.90tn from 8.95tn on Monday.

On the other hand, CUSTODYINS (+4.96%) posted the greatest gain followed by  AIRSERVICE (+4.93%), NAHCO (+4.89%), NASCON (++4.87%) and GUARANTY (+4.29%).

Market mood remains generally weak, acknowledging the persistent losses over the last four weeks.  Profit taking and bargain hunting are expected for the rest of the week with sentiments primarily driven by their effects. Gains made during the week should be marginal.

 

Macroeconomic review

On to a brief macroeconomic report. October 2016 inflation figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed headline inflation increasing 0.48% to 18.3% against 17.9% in September.

There was an increase across almost all sectors which contribute to the headline inflation, such as communication and restaurants & hotels of which these two had the lowest month-on-month growth, increasing 0.3% (5.7%) and 0.3% (9.4%) respectively.

Nudging core inflation up to 18.1% from 17.7% in September was the increase in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, Education, Clothing & Footwear, and Transport. The essentials or better yet bare necessities which include Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other fuels division recorded the highest increase of 26.9%.

 

Monday Recap

Equities market on Monday similarly closed in the red, sustaining the negative mood which characterized the previous week as the NSE All Share Index slid 0.70%.

Trading activities were toned down as evidenced in the number of deals, market turnover and volume traded. All three pared by 27.35%, 92.88% and 57.64% respectively. Market breadth, a good indicator of investor sentiment closed at 0.45x on the back of ten gainers against twenty two decliners.

Leading the downward tug on the benchmark index was FO which slid 9.74% to close at N94.32. The oil player was trailed by HONYFLOUR (-5.00%, ), CADBURY (-4.95%), NASCON (-4.95% ) and OANDO (-4.88%).

MAYBAKER on the other hand posted the greatest increase of  (+4.71%) to settle at N0.89. WAPIC trailed with a +4.00% gain followed by  LIVESTOCK (+2.50%), MANSARD (+1.63%), and ACCESS (+1.13%).

Analysis by sector using the NSE sector indices showed a general downward trend with the exception of NSEINS10 which appreciated by 0.61%. Other sectors performed as follows: NSEOILG (-2.40%), NSEBNK10 (-2.14%), NSEFBT10 (-0.31%), and NSEIND (-0.17%).