Dangote Cement, others dip market by N750bn as bearish bias persists

The bearish sentiments showcased by investors in Nigeria’s equities market continued on Monday as stocks like Dangote Cement, Beta Glass, and Africa Prudential caused the NGX to open this week’s trading by a negative of 1.36 percent.

Investors lost about N751 billion as Dangote Cement Plc led the league of top laggards after its share price dropped most by N59.10 or 10 percent, from N591.10 to N532.

Despite banks capital raising activities, the market has decreased this month by 1.62 percent, pulling down the market’s year-to-date (YtD) return to 28.10 percent.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation decreased to 95,779.79 points and N54.381trillion respectively from preceding day’s 97,100.31 points and N55.132 trillion.

“Looking forward, the equities market is expected to show mixed performance as investors adopt opportunistic investment strategies.

“We foresee selective buying of fundamentally strong stocks continuing into the upcoming week. Market activity is anticipated to rise due to ongoing banks’ recapitalization efforts and anticipated corporate actions in the near term.

“Conversely, elevated interest rates in the fixed income market are likely to exert a negative pressure on the equities market as investors capitalise on higher fixed income yields. Overall, fund managers and investors are advised to maintain an opportunistic approach to capitalise on prevailing market opportunities,” said analysts at United Capital research.

Beta Glass also decreased from N53 to N48, losing N5 or 9.76 percent while Africa Prudential dropped from N9.30 to N8.40, losing 90kobo or 9.68 percent.

“We expect the equities market to trade sideways this week, with a bearish bias. We expect a sustained lacklustre sentiment as investors continue to trade cautiously across
tickers.

“Meanwhile, we foresee some bargain hunting activities on tickers that shed in the previous week and present attractive entry points. Also, this may not be sufficient to
sway the market to a positive terrain,” said analysts at Lagos-based Meristem research.

According to them, “Furthermore, activities in the fixed-income market this week, including the domestic USD-bond and FGN Naira
bond auctions, may sway investors’ interest and dampen the mood in the local bourse. Overall, we expect the equities market to close in the red zone this week”.

In 9,291 deals, investors traded 3,546,022,683 stocks worth N7.64billion. GTCO, Wema Bank, Access Holdings and UBA were actively traded.