NSE market index rebounds, investors gain N128.5bn

At the close of trade, the local bourse posted a positive performance as the All-Share Index rose 109bps to 22,789.64 points due to buy interest in MTNN (+10.0%), GUARANTY (+6.6%) and OANDO (+10.0%). Consequently, YTD return moderated to -15.1% while market capitalisation rose ₦128.5bn to ₦11.9tn. Activity level was mixed as volume traded fell 0.6% to 671.5m units while value traded advanced 31.3% to ₦10.6bn. The most active stocks by volume were GUARANTY (177.8m units), ZENITH (147.0m units) and ACCESS (88.0m units) while GUARANTY (₦3.5bn), DANGCEM (₦2.0bn) and ZENITH (₦2.0bn) led by value.  

Across sectors, performance was mixed as 3 of 6 indices under our coverage trended northward. The AFR-ICT and Banking indices led gainers, up 5.2% and 2.1% respectively, due to buy interest in MTNN (+10.0%), GUARANTY (+6.6%) and UBA (+0.9%). Trailing, the Oil & Gas index rose 0.8% following gains in OANDO (+10.0%) and ETERNA (+9.9%). Conversely, the Consumer Goods index declined the most, down 1.5% due to price depreciation in NESTLE (-3.9%) and VITAFOAM (-1.5%) while losses in DANGCEM (-3.1%) and WAPCO (-1.8%) dragged the Industrial Goods index down by 1.0%. Finally, the Insurance index fell 0.8% due to sell-offs in LAWUNION (-6.8%), AIICO (-4.8%) and WAPIC (-4.4%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) weakened to 1.4x from the 2.5x recorded in the previous trading session as 19 stocks advanced relative to 14 decliners. The best performers were LASACO (+10.0%), MTNN (+10.0%) and OANDO (+10.0%) while STERLNBA (-10.0%), CHAMS (-9.1%) and OKOMUOIL (-8.2%) led the laggards. Despite the bullish performance recorded today, we expect the bearish sentiment to persist given the current global pandemic. However, we note that there are opportunities for bargain hunting.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 18th March 2020