Bearish sentiment persists as Index down 0.88% Thursday

Investment sentiment on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) remained bearish on Thursday as the ASI dropped further by 0.88 per cent to close the day at34,110.22 points, amidst intense sell pressure in banking and consumer goods large-cap counters.

Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses increased to -2.12% and -10.81%, respectively.

The Banking (-2.49%) index posted the largest loss, owing to significant declines in the shares of GUARANTY (-4.64%), STANBIC (-4.26%), and ZENITHBANK (-2.10%).

The Consumer Goods (-1.06%) and Insurance (-0.21%) indices also closed negative, as selloffs ensued in UNILEVER (-6.40%) and WAPIC (-10.00%) shares respectively. On the flip side, gains resurfaced in the Industrial Goods (+0.38%) and Oil & Gas (+0.15%) indices, following interest in DANGCEM (+0.45%) and FO (+5.00%) stocks respectively.

Market breadth remained negative, with a wider margin of 31 losers and 19 gainers, led by WAPIC (-10.00%) and AGLEVENT (+10.00%) shares respectively. Total volume and value of trades dropped by 17.86% and 4.18% to 164.50 million units and NGN2.07 billion, respectively, and exchanged in 3,188 deals.

“ Our outlook for equities in the near-to-medium term is negative, owing to the absence of a near term positive catalyst and amidst the lingering emerging markets rout. However, macroeconomic fundamentals remain stable and supportive of recovery in the long term”. This was the view of analysts at Cordros Capital