Nigerian Stock market resumes on a positive note… ASI up 0.2%

The local bourse started the week bullish as the benchmark index rose 21bps to close at 41,088.96 points due to buying interest in DANGCEM (+0.9%), AIRTELAF (+0.4%), and UBN (+6.3%). As a result, the YTD return improved to 2.0% while market capitalisation increased ₦45.5bn to settle at ₦21.5tn. Activity level declined as volume and value traded fell 43.7% and 47.9% to 333.1m units and ₦2.6bn respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were TRANSCORP (49.0m units), MANSARD (28.0m units) and FIDELITY (26.5m units) while ZENITH (₦419.0m), AIRTELAF (₦287.2m) and GUARANTY (₦239.1m) topped by value.

Across sectors under our coverage, performance was mixed. The Industrial Goods and Banking indices advanced 0.5% apiece due to price appreciation in DANGCEM (+0.9%), WAPCO (+1.9%), UBN (+6.3%) and ACCESS (+0.6%). Also, gains in AIRTELAF (+0.4%) drove the AFR-ICT index 0.2% higher. Conversely, the Oil  & Gas index led the laggards, down 0.8% following sell-offs in ARDOVA (-9.8%) and OANDO (-3.6%). Similarly, price declines in INTBREW (-6.5%), NASCON (-5.8%), AIICO (-4.6%) and WAPIC (-8.5%) pushed the Consumer Goods and Insurance indices lower by 0.7% and 0.6% respectively. 

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) remained unchanged at 0.7x as 19 stocks advanced against 29 decliners. ACADEMY (+10.0%), MAYBAKER (+9.9%) and MRS (+9.8%) were the best-performing tickers while ROYALEX (-10.0%), CILEASING (-10.0%) and ARDOVA (-9.8%) were the losers. We expect investors to continue seeking bargain hunting opportunities.

Market Statistics for Monday, 25th January 2021