Stock trading, bullish momentum sustained… ASI up 2.1%

In today’s trading session, equities market maintained an uptrend as the benchmark index appreciated 210bps to close at 36,239.62 points due to gains in AIRTELAF (+10.0%), DANGCEM (+2.6%) and ZENITH (+2.7%). Consequently, YTD return improved to 35.0% and market capitalisation increased by ₦390.2bn to ₦18.9tn. Activity level was mixed as volume traded declined 47.1% to 343.6m units while value traded surged 90.2% to ₦4.3bn. The most traded stocks by volume were FBNH (99.4m units), UBA (22.3m units) and ACCESS (20.9m units) while DANGCEM (₦1.3bn), FBNH (₦700.4m) and ZENITH (₦388.7m) led by value.

Performance across sectors was bullish as all indices under our coverage closed in the green. The AFR-ICT index led the chart with a 5.7% gain due to buying interest in AIRTELAF (+10.0%). Trailing, the Insurance and Industrial Goods indices rose 2.4% and 1.3% respectively following price appreciation in MANSARD (+9.1%), AIICO (+1.7%), and DANGCEM (+2.6%). In the same vein, the Banking and Oil & Gas indices advanced, up 1.1% and 0.6% respectively as a result of price uptick in ZENITH (+2.75%), UBN (+3.8%), ARDOVA (+10.0%) and OANDO (+2.1%). Finally, the Consumer Goods index gained 23bps as UNILEVER (+9.5%) and DANGSUGAR (+0.3%) ticked higher.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) decreased to 1.7x from the 1.9x recorded in the previous session as 29 stocks gained against the 17 that declined. AIRTELAF (+10.0%), ARDOVA (+10.0%) and FTNCOCOA (+9.6%) led the gainers while OMATEK (-9.1%), WAPIC (-9.1%) and CHAMPION (-9.0%) led  the decliners. We expect the equities market to close on a positive note for the week.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 17th December 2020 

Source: Afrinvest