Thisday Afrinvest Index down 36bps

Thisday Afrinvest 40 index declined by 4.27% to close at 4478.22 index points following price decline in GTCO (-6.3%), ZENITH (-7.1%), and ACCESS (-10.0%). Cumulatively, these stocks account for 19.4% of the index.

Bearish Outing on Customs Street… ASI down 1.5%

Yesterday, the local bourse closed on a negative note as the

NGX-ASI shed 1.5% to 103,106.85 points, following sell-offs on ACCESSCORP (-10.0%), UBA (-9.7%) and DANGSUGAR (9.7%). Consequently, YTD return fell to 37.9% (previously 40.0%) while market capitalization declined ₦856.2bn to ₦56.4tn. Also, activity level declined as both volume and value traded waned 5.9% and 57.3% to 649.0m units and ₦11.1bn, respectively.

Bearish Sector Performance

The bears hold sway across our coverage sectors, as all six indices closed for today in red. Leading the laggards, the Banking and Insurance indices declined 6.7% and 6.4% respectively due to sell pressure in UBA (-9.7%), ZENITH (-7.1%), AIICO (-8.5%), and LINKASSURE (-10.0%). Trailing, the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices shed 2.6% and 0.7% respectively due to selling profit-taking on DANGSUGA (-9.7%),

NASCON (-10.0%), and OANDO (-9.8%). Price decline in WAPCO (-9.1%) and OMATEK (-9.9%) pulled the Industrial Goods and AFR-ICT indices lower by 39bps and 1bp, respectively.

Outlook

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, weakened to -1.02x (previously 0.08x) as 9 stocks advanced, 62 declined, while 52 closed flat. We expect the weak investor sentiment to fuel a bearish outing on the bourse in the next trading session.

Corporate Action

Today, Geregu Power Plc announced a final dividend of ₦8.00per ordinary shares for its 2023 financial year. Shareholders Whose name appeared on the company’s register at the close of business on 27th February 2024 and has completed e-dividend registration form would be credited on 28th March 2024.