GTbank, FBNH, NBL buoy equities market, starts week on a positive note… 

The performance of the local bourse was bullish today as the NSE All Share Index (ASI) advanced 0.5 per cent to close at 38,845.31 points while YTD return improved to 1.6 per cent. This positive performance was largely driven by gains in GUARANTY (+1.1%), FBNH (+2.8%) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+0.9%). Consequently, investors gained N63.8 billion as market capitalisation rose to N14.1 trillion. Activity level was mixed as volume traded improved by 187.2% to 603.2 million units while value traded remained flat at N3.9 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were IKEJAHOTEL (279.6m), UCAP (79.1m) and AFRIPRUD (56.8m) while IKEJAHOTEL (N705.0m), DANGSUGAR (N641.9m) and GUARANTY (N437.7m) were the top traded stocks by value.

Performance across sectors was mixed as 3 of 5 indices under our watch trended northwards. The Banking index was the best performer, up 1.1 per cent, due to buy interest in GUARANTY (+1.1%), ZENITH (+0.9%) and UBN (+4.5%). Similarly, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices advanced 0.4 per cent apiece as a result of gains in EQUITYASUR (+5.0%), AIICO (+4.8%), NIGERINS (+4.0%), NASCON (+7.1%), FLOURMILL (+1.9%) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+0.9%). On the flipside, the Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices closed in the red, shedding 0.9 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively due to losses in BERGER (-5.0%), WAPCO (-1.9%) and ETERNA (-4.7%).

Presco led the gainers’ table, gaining N3.35 to close at N73.70 per share. Nascon followed with a gain of N1.60 to close at N24, while Nigerian Breweries gained N1 to close at N118 per share. Flour Mills added 60k to close at N33, while Guaranty Trust Bank gained 45k to close at N41.60 per share. On the other hand, Lafarge Africa posted the highest price loss to lead the laggards’ table with a loss of 75k to close at N39.05 per share. Berger Paint trailed with 45k to close at N8.55, while Eterna Oil depreciated by 31k to N6.25 per share. BOC Gases declined by 22k to close at N4.21, while Ikeja Hotel lost 10k to close at N2.53 per share. The volume of shares traded closed higher with a growth of 187.18 per cent.

Consequently, investors bought and sold 603.17 million shares worth N3.89 billion transacted in 3,832 deals. This was in contrast with 210.03 million shares valued at N3.89 billion exchanged in 4,141 deals on Friday. A breakdown of the activity chart shows that Ikeja Hotel dominated trading activities with 279.64 million shares worth N704.99 million. United Capital Plc followed with an account of 79.128 million shares valued at N253.965 million, while Africa Prudential sold 56.77 million shares worth N242.91 million. Dangote Sugar exchanged 32.52 million shares valued at N641.92 million, while Access Bank traded 22.345 million shares worth N241.05 million.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 1.5x from 0.6x in the prior session as 30 stocks advanced against 20 stocks that declined. Today’s top performing stocks were NASCON (+7.1%), DIAMOND (+6.6%) and JAPAULOIL (+6.5%) while BERGER (-5.0%), BOCGAS (-5.0%) and ETERNA (-4.7%) were the worst performers. We expect the positive performance to be sustained in the subsequent trading sessions as investors continue to hunt for bargain opportunities.

Market Statistics Monday, 11th June 2018

Market Cap (N’bn)                             14,071.7

Market Cap (US$’bn)                               46.0

NSE All-Share Index                        38,845.31

Daily Performance %                                0.5

Week Performance %                               5.1

YTD Performance %                                1.6

Daily Volume (Million)                            603.2

Daily Value (N’bn)                                      3.9

Daily Value (US$’m)                                 12.7