FRI, 20 NOV, 2020-theGBJournal-After eight weeks of hiatus from the local bourse, the bears staged a comeback dominating the market on three of the five trading days of the week.
Activity level was mixed, as volume grew strongly by 153.8% w/w while value declined 38.7% w/w. The All-Share Index settled below the 35,000 psychological mark breached in the prior week, closing at 34,136.82 points.
Notably, investors’ sell down in UBA (-10.9%), DANGSUGAR (-7.7%), FLOURMILL (-7.4%), STANBIC (-6.5%), ZENITH (-5.7%), and DANGCEM (-3.4%) drove the benchmark index 2.6% lower, its first weekly loss in eight weeks.
The MTD return moderated to 27.2% while the YTD return for index declined to 27.2%. Performance across sectors was all broadly negative. Save for the Insurance (+0.5%) index that closed marginally positive, the Banking (-6.0%), Oil and Gas (-4.4%), Consumer Goods (-4.3%), and Industrial (-0.7%) indices closed in the red.
‘’In the short to medium term, we still see scope for expansion in valuation multiples as the depressed yield environment remains compelling for yield-seeking investors to rebalance their portfolio towards equities,’’ says Cordros Research.
‘’In the week ahead, we expect a mixed market performance due to continued profit-taking activities and positioning by early birds in dividend-paying stocks ahead of FY 2020 dividend declarations. We reiterate the need for positioning in only fundamentally sound stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.’’
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