Sustained gains in Telco drive positive performance

Today, performance on the domestic equities market was positive, largely driven by gains in AIRTELAF (+4.9%), ETI (+5.5%), and GTCO (+0.4%). Consequently, the All-Share index rose 69bps to settle at 39,448.46 points, YTD loss improved to -2.0% and market capitalisation increased by ₦141.6bn to ₦20.5tn. Trading activity declined as volume and value traded fell 61.8% and 47.5% respectively to 181.4m units and ₦2.1bn. The most traded stocks by volume were TRANSCORP (20.5m units), ETI (17.5m units), and FCMB (15.3m units) while MTNN (₦777.8m), AIRTELAF (₦370.9m), and FLOURMILL (₦104.2m) led by value.

Across sectors under our coverage, performance was postive as 4 indices gained, 1 index lost while the Industrial Goods index closed flat. The AFR-ICT and Banking indices led the gainers, up 2.1% and 0.5% respectively, on the back of buying interest in AIRTELAF (+4.9%), GTCO (+0.4%), and ETI (+5.5%). In the same vein, the Oil & Gas and Insurance indices gained 8bps and 1bp respectively, driven by price appreciation in OANDO (+0.4%), LINKASSURE (+6.8%), and NEM (+2.0%). On the other hand, the Consumer Goods index was the lone loser, down 2bps due to sell pressure on FLOURMILL (-0.7%).

Investors sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 1.4x from 1.1x recorded in the last trading session as 20 stocks advanced while 14 stocks declined. PHARMDEKO (+9.2%), NEIMETH (+8.6%), and IKEJAHOTEL (+7.7%) led gainers while FTNCOCA (-8.9%), WEMABANK (-7.3%), and MAYBAKER (-6.4%) led losers. We expect the bullish performance to be sustained in the next trading session, as investors continue to trade on company specific fundamentals.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 11th August 2021