Sell pressures dominated yesterday’s trading session as investors booked gains from MTNN (-1.4 per cent), Guinness (-5.9%) and ARDOVA (-6.3%).
As a result, the All-Share Index declined 75bps to 28,449.49 points, market capitalization fell (₦113.1 billion) to ₦14.9 trillion while year to date return weakened to 6.0%.
Activity level improved as volume and value traded rose by 9.8% and 44.3% to 326.6m units and ₦4.2bn respectively.
The most traded stocks by volume were UBA (40.3m units), Zenith (39.6m units) and Guaranty Trust Bank (38.3m units) while Guaranty (₦1.1bn), Zenith (₦800.9m) and Nestle (₦479.9m) led by value.
Performance across sectors was lacklustre; all indices under our coverage lost save for the Insurance index (+0.6%) which was buoyed by price appreciation in Wapic (+10.0%).
The banking index lost the most, down 1.7% following losses in Guaranty (-1.3%) and Zenith (-1.2%).
Similarly, the AFR-ICT and Oil & Gas indices depreciated 1.1% and 0.3% respectively, due to selling pressures in MTNN (-1.4%) and ARDOVA (-10.0%).
Likewise, profit-taking in Guinness (-5.9%) and WAPCO (-4.4%), dragged the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices lower by 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth fell to 0.1x from the 1.4x recorded in the previous session as 4 stocks gained against 34 decliners.