Selloffs in Bua Cement, FBNH, Zenith Bank extend Nigerian equity market losses

The Nigeria Exchange sustained losses for the second consecutive days on Tuesday on the back of selloffs in BUA CEMENT, FBNH and Zenith Bank.

The benchmark index dipped by 0.72% to close at 39,022.52 points as the market capitalisation declined by ₦148.0billion to ₦20.3trillion, while the market loss worsened to -3.1%.

Trading activity waned as volume and value traded declined 42.8% and 48.4% respectively to 204.6million units and ₦1.8billion.

COURTVILLE (27.1m units), FIDELITY (23.4m units), and, ZENITH (18.5m units) were the most traded stocks by volume, while ZENITH (₦435.5m), BUACEMENT (₦223.2m), and SEPLAT (₦175.8m) led by value.

ABCTRANS (+10.0%), ETERNA (+9.9%), and TRANSCOHOT (+9.8%) led 15 gainer-chart, while of the 22 losers, PORTPAINT (-9.9%), CHAMPION (-9.7%), and SCOA (-9.3%) came top.

Analysts at Afrinvest have projected the performance at the local bourse to remain bearish in the coming trading session due to the absence of a positive catalyst.

The Industrial Goods index led the laggards, down 2.6% due to sell-pressure on BUACEMENT (-5.7%) and PORTPAINT (-9.9%).

In the same vein, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices fell by 1.1% and 5bps respectively on the back of price depreciation in CORNERST (-7.3%), LINKASSURE (-5.8%), and CHAMPION (-9.7%).

Meanwhile, the Oil & Gas and Banking indices rose by 0.3% and 3bps as a result of buying interest in ETERNA (+9.9%), OANDO (+0.7%), WEMABANK (+5.5%), and STANBIC (+1.6%).