Stock market sustains positive momentum amid weak sentiment… ASI up 12bps

Today, the the All-Share Index rose 12bps to 40,765.20 points due to bargain hunting in FBNH (+7.8%), NNFM (+6.5%), and UACN (+2.4%). Accordingly, YTD return strengthened to 1.2% while market capitalisation rose by ₦25.3bn to ₦21.2tn. Trading activity was mixed as volume traded declined 7.5% to 400.6m units while value traded rose 11.3% to ₦3.5bn. The most traded stocks by volume were FBNH (108.7m units), TRANSCORP (39.7m units), and ETI (32.8m units) while FBNH (₦1.1bn), GTCO (₦335.0m), and WAPCO (₦297.0m) led by value.

Performance across the sectors under our coverage was mixed as 3 indices lost, 2 gained, while the AFR-ICT index closed flat. The Insurance index led laggards, down 0.7% due to sell pressure on AIICO (-1.1%) and SOVRENIN (-4.2%). Similarly, the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices declined 15bps and 4bps respectively on the back of profit-taking in DANGSUGAR (-1.1%), HONYFLOUR (-3.4%), and OANDO (-0.2%). Meanwhile, the Banking and Industrial Goods indices rose 6bps and 5bps respectively due to buying interest in FBNH (+7.8%), UBN (+2.0%), and WAPCO (+0.9%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), weakened to 0.9x from 1.9x as 18 stocks advanced while 20 stocks declined. FBNH (+7.8%), UPL (+7.4%), and NNFM (+6.5%) led the gainers while PHARMDEKO (-6.0%), ABCTRANS (-5.7%), and REGALINS (-4.9%) led the losers. In the next trading session, we anticipate profit-taking on the local bourse as some recently appreciated bellwether stocks approach their inflection point.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 6th October 2021