Stock market rallies on bargain hunting on bellwethers… NSE ASI up 22bps

The local bourse returned to the green on the back of bargain hunting in bellwethers – NESTLE (+3.5%), ZENITH (+1.9%), FBNH (+2.7%) and GUARANTY (+0.6%) –  which drove the All Share Index (ASI) 0.2% higher to 36,427.22 points while YTD loss moderated to 4.7%. Consequently, investors gained N29.1bn as market capitalization rose to N13.2tn. However, activity level weakened as volume and value traded fell 48.2% and 18.3% to 171.0m units and N3.0bn respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (30.3m units), UBA (21.7m units) and FCMB (19.0m units) while NIGERIAN BREWERIES (N761.2bn), ZENITH (N717.2bn) and DANGCEM (N423.4bn) were the top traded by value.

Across sectors under our coverage, a bullish performance was recorded as all indices closed in the green. The Banking and Insurance indices appreciated the most, gaining 0.8% apiece, following price appreciation in ZENITH (+1.9%) GUARANTY (+0.6%) and CONTINSURE (+7.0%). In like manner, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices advanced 0.2% apiece, on the back of buy interest in NESTLE (+3.5%), NASCON (+2.5%) and  CCNN (+6.0%) while gains in MOBIL (+7.5%) and FORTE (+4.3%) buoyed the Oil & Gas index (+0.1%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 1.0x from 0.6x recorded yesterday as 20 stocks advanced against 20 stocks that declined. Today’s top gainers were HONYFLOUR (+9.9%), CUTIX (+9.8%) and AIICO (+9.7%) while NEIMETH (-9.3%), WAPIC (-9.1%) and CUSTODIAN (-8.9%) were declined the most. We expect the market to close the week in the green, supported by bargain hunting in fundamentally sound stocks as observed in today’s trading session.

Market Statistics Thursday, 26th July 2018

Market Cap (N’bn)                          13,195.8

Market Cap (US$’bn)                            43.1

NSE All-Share Index                    36,427.22

Daily Performance %                            0.2

Week Performance %                         (0.1)

YTD Performance %                          (4.7)

Daily Volume (Million)                     171.0

Daily Value (N’bn)                              3.8

Daily Value (US$’m)                          9.7