Nigerian Equities Market closes flat… ASI unchanged

The stock market closed today’s trading session flat as the benchmark index stood at 28,344.34 points while market capitalisation and YTD return remain unchanged at ₦14.8tn and 5.6% respectively. Activity level waned as average volume and value traded declined by 59.2% and 37.5% to 218.4m units and ₦3.1bn respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (53.1m units), UBA (33.5m units) and GUARANTY (25.1m units) while ZENITH (₦1.1bn), GUARANTY (₦753.2m) and STANBIC (₦269.8m) led by value.

Performance across sectors was positive as 4 of 6 indices under our coverage closed in the green. The Insurance and Banking indices led the pack, up 0.6% and 0.5% respectively, following gains in CORNERSTONE (+5.0%) and GUARANTY (+1.5%). Trailing, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices appreciated 2.0% apiece due to price appreciation in PZ (+5.0%), GUINNESS (+3.3%) and WAPCO (+2.1%). On the flip side, losses in ARDOVA (-3.6%) and ETRANZACT (-9.9%) dragged the Oil & Gas and AFR-ICT indices lower by 17bps and 4bps respectively.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved to 1.3x from the 1.2x recorded previously as 14 stocks gained against the 11 that declined. ETERNA (+9.8%), ACADEMY (+7.4%) and AFRIPRUD (+5.8%) were top gainers while ETRANZACT (-9.9%), WEMABANK (-5.2%) and COURTVILLE (-4.8%) led the underperformers. We expect bargain hunting to drive gains in the next trading session.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 14th September 2020 

Source: Afrinvest