Nigerian bourse continues losing streak as Index falls 2.33% Wednesday

Losses in the Nigerian equities market persisted for the sixth consecutive session on Wednesday as the market All-Share Index (ASI) fell 2.33 per cent– largest decline since October 24, 2018 — to 29,336.80 points, following a DANGCEM-led selloff.

Consequently, the Month-to-Date loss increased to 6.66 per cent.

Significant losses were recorded across most sector indices – Industrial Goods (-3.57%), Insurance (-3.06%), and Banking (-0.28%). Notable stocks include DANGCEM (-8.60%), CUSTODIAN (-5.88%), and GUARANTY (-2.19%).

On the flip side, the Consumer Goods (+0.74%) and Oil & Gas (+0.15%) indices closed in the green, driven by interest in UNILEVER (+9.63%) and OANDO (+1.19%).

Market breadth remained negative, with 14 gainers and 19 losers, led by JBERGER (+10.00%) and UPL (-10.00%) stocks, respectively. Total volume of trades grew by 8.6 per cent to 234.90 million units, valued at NGN2.25 billion, respectively, and exchanged in 3,806 deals.

“ Our outlook for equities in the short to medium term remains conservative, amidst brewing political concerns, and the absence of a positive trigger. However, stable macroeconomic fundamentals remain supportive of recovery in the long term”, analysts at Cordros Capital said.

In the currency market, the USD/NGN appreciated by 0.21 per cent to NGN364.90 in the I&E FX window, while it remained flat at NGN361 in the parallel market. Total turnover in the IEW surged by 158.3 per cent to USD292.45million, with trades consummated within the NGN350.00-366.75/USD band.

In the Fixed Income and Money Market, the overnight lending rate rose by 42 bps to 27.67 per cent, in the absence of any significant inflows.

Proceedings in the NTB market were bullish, in the absence of an OMO auction, and in anticipation of tomorrow’s OMO maturities. As a result, average yield fell by 4 bps to close at 15.42 per cent. Yield at the short (-14 bps) and mid (-9 bps) segments contracted, driven by demand for the 15DTM (-127 bps) and 99DTM (-68 bps) bills, respectively. Conversely, a selloff of the 309DTM (+61 bps) bill led to yield expansion at the long (+6 bps) end of the curve.

Sentiments in the bond market were mixed as average yield closed flat at 15.27 per cent. Yields contracted at the short (-8bps) and long (-3 bps) ends of the curve, following demand for the FEB-2020 (-26 bps) and JUL-2034 (-6 bps) bonds. On the flip side, a selloff of the JAN-2026 (+11 bps) bond led to yield expansion at the mid (+4 bp) segment.