Bullish run resumes at Nigerian Stock Market, ASI up 0.8% 

The domestic equities market started the last trading week of the year on a bullish note, up 0.8% to close at 39,110.17 points. The performance was buoyed by strong demand for BUACEMENT (+6.7%), ZENITH (+2.0%) and ACCESS (+4.1%). Similarly, the YTD return increased to 45.7% as market capitalisation advanced ₦167.6bn to settle at ₦20.4tn. Activity level was mixed as volume traded rose 85.4% to 722.6m units while value traded dipped 45.0% to ₦4.4bn. The most traded stocks by volume were AIICO (273.1m units), OANDO (81.4m units) and FBNH (41.1m units) while DANGCEM (₦993.2m), ZENITH (₦742.0m) and ACCESS (₦353.3m) led the value table.

Performance across the six sectors under our coverage was mixed as 2 sectors gained, 3 lost while the AFR-ICT indicator closed flat. The Industrial Goods and Banking indices climbed 2.4% and 1.1% respectively on the back of gains in BUACEMENT (+6.7%), CUTIX (+2.3%) and ZENITH (+2.0%). Conversely, the Insurance index fell 0.8%, underpinned by losses in MANSARD (-4.8%) and AIICO (-1.6%). Finally, the Oil & Gas and Consumer Goods indices declined 0.1% apiece following sell-offs in OANDO (-0.6%), FLOURMILL (-1.6%) and GUINNESS (-1.0%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) fell to 0.9x from the 2.6x recorded previously as 18 stocks gained against 20 losers. JAIZBANK (+10.0%), NEM (+9.6%) and LASACO (+8.8%) were the best performing tickers while NCR (-9.7%), FTNCOCOA (-9.0%) and TRANSEXPR (-8.9%) led the losers. We anticipate the bullish run would remain following sustained buying interest in the local bourse.

Market Statistics for Tuesday, 29th December 2020