The equities market suffered its worst daily loss in almost six months as falling oil prices and increased global volatility heightened sell-off across the board. Foreign investors turned net sellers in most blue chips – large caps such as Dangcem(-4.89%), NB(-3.91%), Nestle(-2.94%) and Guinness(-4.55%) all slumped on strong foreign selling. Banking stocks traded mixed, Zenith(+2.04%) and Access(+3.90%) advanced on bargain hunting while UBA(-5.51%), Stanbic(-0.99%) and tier IIs such as FCMB(-5.90%) and Diamond(-4.26%) dropped on risk aversion.
Investor apathy capped turnover at N3.68bn ($10m), 52% below this year’s daily average value of N7.78bn($21m). Today’s -2.41% loss cut ytd return to +9.06%, we expect the market to tick lower on sustained selling in large caps.