Buy interest pushes stock index higher… NSE ASI up 30bps

Trading activities on the local bourse were bullish today as the benchmark index rose 0.3 per cent to 36,711.96 points while YTD loss declined to -4.0 per cent, majorly due to investor buy interest in bellwethers – GUARANTY (+2.1%), DANGCEM (+0.6%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+0.5%) and FBNH (+1.1%). Consequently, investors gained N39.3 billion as market capitalisation rose to N13.3 trillion. However, activity level weakened as volume and value traded declined 66.8 per cent and 43.4 per cent to 225.9 million units and N2.2 billion respectively. Top traded stocks by volume were MEDVIEWAIR (100.0m units), TRANSCORP (16.1m units) and ZENITH (11.3m units) while the top traded by value were DANGCEM (N564.1bn), GUARANTY (N315.5bn) and ZENITH (N260.3bn).

Performance across sectors was largely bullish as 4 of 5 indices under our coverage closed northwards. The Banking index gained the most, up 0.6 per cent due to price appreciation in GUARANTY (+2.1%), ZENITH (+0.2%) and WEMA (+5.8%) while the Industrial Goods index followed closely, rising 0.4 per cent, on the back of gains in DANGCEM (+0.6%) and CCNN (+4.4%). Similarly, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices rose 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively, buoyed by investors’ interest in CONTINSURE (+6.0%), NASCON (+2.7%) and FLOURMILLS (+1.0%). On the flipside, the Oil & Gas index lost 1.7 per cent, as investors sold positions in OANDO (-7.2%) and FORTE (-9.7%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved to 1.1x from 0.8x recorded in the prior session as 20 stocks advanced against 18 stocks that declined. Top gainers today were CUTIX (+10.0%), CONTINSURE (+6.0%) and WEMA (+5.8%) while top losers were ABBEYBDS (-10.0%), UPL (-9.8%) and FORTE (-9.7%). Today, we saw investors take advantage of attractive entry opportunities in some mid to large cap stocks that were trading close to the oversold region, based on the Relative Strength Index (RSI). In subsequent sessions, we expect bargain hunting to keep performance upbeat.

Market Statistics Monday, 23rd July 2018

Market Cap (N’bn)                             13,298.9

Market Cap (US$’bn)                               43.4

NSE All-Share Index                        36,711.96

Daily Performance %                                0.3

Week Performance %                              (1.5)

YTD Performance %                                (4.0)

Daily Volume (Million)                            225.9

Daily Value (N’bn)                                      2.2

Daily Value (US$’m)                                   7.2