Bears extended their dominance at the local equities market with selloffs witnessed across some major tickers last week.

The market opened the week with 0.17% gains on Monday which was followed by losses in the remaining four trading days of the week.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 1.74% WoW to settle at 38,648.48 while market capitalization closed at N20.22tn. In summary, the year-to-date performance moderated to –4.03%.

Market breath printed at 0.92x arising from 35 advancers and 38 decliners indicating weak sentiments. CHAMPIONS (45.24%), REGALINS (22.22%) and SMURFIT (20.00%) were the top market gainers while ETERNA (-18.95%), MEYER (-18.00%) and AFRINSURE (-16.67%) topped the losers’ chart.

Market activity level was also weak as both volume and value of transaction declined by 19.69% and 20.85% respectively. Trading in United Bank for Africa Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Zenith Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 524.548 million shares worth N5.957 billion in 5,346 deals, contributing 31.32% and 25.30% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Outlook For The Week

We expect to see similar bearish sentiments this week with upward movement in fixed income yields pressuring market performance.

THE NIGERIAN FIXED INCOME MARKET
The bond market opened the week on a relatively quiet note, however, activity picked up mid-week with thin offers across tenors. Performance waned on Thursday due to the spike seen on the long-dated NTB sold at the primary market auction on Wednesday. Average benchmark yields fell marginally by 1bps to 9.93% WoW from 9.94% last week.

The Central Bank sold N108.76 billion worth of notes against N88.90 billion offered at its auction this week. The offer was over-subscribed by 2.21x. Save for the long tenor papers, rates were unchanged. The 91-day, 182-day & 364-day notes were allotted at 2.00%, 3.50%, & 6.50% respectively. Compared to the previous auction, rates on the 91-day & 182-day were unchanged while the 364-day paper rose by 100bps.

Outlook For The Week

We expect activity to remain relatively quiet next week albeit with improved participation on the back of the rise in yields.

GLOBAL MARKETS

The US S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices both went up by 4.88% and 6.14% following news of the $1.94tn COVID-19 relief bills. Similarly, other major indices closed positive on the back of improved COVID-19 vaccine distribution across Europe. Notably, the UK FTSE, German DAX and Japan NIKKEI appreciated by 4.38%, 5.60%, and 8.28% respectively.

Outlook For The Week

We expect an extension of the positive momentum this week as funds from the stimulus bills are expected to flow into the equities market.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/15/nigerian-equities-market-recorded-6-consecutive-weekly-losses/

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