Nigerian Stock market sustains Bullish sentiment… ASI up 0.4%

Buying interest in MTNN (+1.0%), ZENITH (+2.8%), and GUARANTY (+1.7%) buoyed market performance as the All-Share index rose 43bps to close at 39,015.58 points. Accordingly, YTD loss moderated to -3.1% while market capitalisation increased by ₦87.7bn to ₦20.4tn. Trading activity declined as volume and value traded fell 33.4% and 91.6% respectively to 339.0m units and ₦2.7bn. The most traded stocks by volume were FIDELITY (125.3m units), ZENITH (26.2m units), and UACN (25.8m units) while GUARANTY (₦683.1bn), ZENITH (₦575.0m), and UACN (₦280.3m) led by value.

Across sectors under coverage, performance was bullish as 4 of the 6 indicators closed in the green. The Banking index led gainers, up 1.8% due to price appreciation in ZENITH (+2.8%) and GUARANTY (+1.7%) while the Insurance index rose 1.1% on account of buying interest in NEM (+7.5%) and CUSTODIA (+4.4%). Similarly, the AFR-ICT and Consumer Goods indices inched higher by 0.5% and 0.4% respectively as investors took position in MTNN (+1.0%), INTBREW (+1.8%), and PZ (+10.0%). Conversely, the Oil & Gas index was the lone laggard, down 3bps following price depreciation in OANDO (-1.6%). Finally, the Industrial Goods index closed flat.

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 2.0x from the 1.5x recorded in the previous session as 24 stocks advanced against 12 decliners. PZ (+10.0%), HONYFLOUR (+10.0%) and SOVRENINS (+8.0%) were the top gainers while ROYALEX (-10.0%), PORTPAINT (-9.9%) and FTNCOCOA (-8.9%) were the top decliners. Despite the positive performance in the last two trading sessions, we maintain our bearish outlook given the expected rise in marginal rates at the bond auction tomorrow.

Market Statistics for Tuesday, 20th April 2021