Nigerian Equities Market opens positive investors gain N7.1bn

The local bourse opened the week on a positive note as the All-Share Index rose 5bps to settle at 25,605.59 points due to bargain hunting in DANGCEM (+0.8%), WAPCO (+2.0%) and GUARANTY (+0.4%). Consequently, market capitalisation rose to ₦13.4tn as investors gained ₦7.1bn while YTD loss improved to -4.6%. Activity level improved as volume and value traded increased 20.8% and 45.7% respectively to 257.0m units and ₦3.3bn. The most traded stocks by volume were CUSTODIAN (49.3m units), WAPCO (29.6m units) and GUARANTY (23.6m units) while GUARANTY (₦739.2m), STANBIC (₦580.8m) and MTNN (₦486.0m) led by value.

Sector performance was mixed albeit negatively skewed as 3 of the 6 indices under our coverage declined. The Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices led laggards, down 50bps and 8bps respectively following sell pressures in INTBREW (-8.6%), NASCON (-0.5%) and OANDO (-0.8%). Similarly, the Insurance index lost 7bps owing to price depreciation in CORNERSTONE (-4.6%). On the other hand, the Industrial Goods and Banking indices were the best-performing indicators, up 51bps and 15bps respectively due to bargain hunting in DANGCEM (+0.8%), WAPCO (+2.0%), GUARANTY (+0.4%) and FBNH (+1.0%). Finally, the AFR-ICT index closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) was unchanged at 1.1x as 17 stocks gained against the 16 that lost. The top gainers were NEIMETH (+9.6%), ROYALEX (+7.1%) and CHIPLC (+6.9%) while INTBREW (-8.6%), UAC-PROP (-8.4%) and FCMB (-7.7%) lost the most. Given the bearish performance last week, we expect investors to take position in fundamentally sound stocks. However, there is room for profit-taking.

Market Statistics for Monday, 14th September 2020 

Source: Afrinvest