Market closes northward as investors gain N11.2bn in share price appreciation

At the penultimate session of the week, gains in GTCO (+1.3%), OANDO (+3.7%), and UBA (+0.7%) pulled the local bourse out of the red-zone as the All-Share Index rose 6bps to 38,874.13 points. Accordingly, YTD loss remained unchanged at -3.5% while market capitalisation increased ₦11.2bn to ₦20.3tn. Trading activity declined as volume and value traded fell 19.0% and 16.1% respectively to 125.8m units and ₦1.3bn. The most traded stocks by volume were MBENEFIT (13.7m units), UCAP (11.5m units), and GTCO (9.9m units) while GTCO (₦270.9m), ZENITH (₦210.5m), and UCAP (₦97.6m) led by value.

Performance was positive across the sectors within our scope as 4 indices closed positive, 1 negative, while the AFR-ICT index remained unchanged. The Insurance and Oil & Gas indices gained the most, up 0.9% and 0.7% respectively on the back of buying interest in LINKASSURE (+3.5%), MBENEFIT (+3.4%), and OANDO (+3.7%). Trailing, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices rose 8bps and 1bp respectively due to price appreciation in FLOURMILL (+1.2%), PZ (+4.6%), and WAPCO (+0.2%). Conversely, the Banking index extended its loss from previous trading session, down 19bps as a result of sell-pressure on ETI (-2.8%) and ZENITH (-0.2%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 1.4x from 0.7x as 16 stocks advanced while 11 stocks declined. NAHCO (+10.0%), PHARMDEKO (+9.6%), and VERITASKAP (+9.5%) led the gainers while SOVRENINS (-4.2%), ETI (-2.8%), and TRANSCORP(-2.2%) led the laggards. In the final trading session, we expect the local bourse to extend the positive momentum as investor sentiment continues to build up.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 23rd September 2021