Another day for the Bulls as investors gain N5.6bn

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc reported that its Gross earnings rose by 5.4 per cent Y-o-Y to ₦233.8billion; while its PAT increased by 0.8 per cent  to ₦74.4 billion from 2018. It said it has  proposed a final dividend of ₦2.00 per ordinary share of 50 kobo each. Meanwhile, the stock market maintained its gaining streak as investors bargained on undervalued stocks. Consequently, the All-Share Index rose 4bps to 26,426.20 points due to gains in STANBIC (+9.9%), ZENITH (+2.0%) and ETI (+9.3%). As such, the YTD loss moderated to -1.5% while investors gained ₦5.6bn as market capitalisation increased to ₦13.8tn. Activity level surged as volume and value traded advanced 40.4% and 178.9% to 431.9m units and ₦7.8bn respectively. The most actively traded stocks by volume were GUARANTY (75.8m units), ZENITH (62.7m units) and REDSTAREX (61.8m units) while  NESTLE (₦2.9bn), GUARANTY  (₦1.9bn) and ZENITH   (₦1.3bn) led by value.

Performance across sectors was mixed as 2 sectors gained, 2 lost while the remaining 2 indices closed flat. The Banking and Industrial Goods indices ended in the green territory, up 1.1% and 0.3% respectively, following gains in ZENITH (+2.0%), ETI (+9.3%), BUACEMENT (+0.3%) and WAPCO (+0.7%). Conversely, the Consumer Goods and Insurance indices recorded losses, down 2.6% and 0.9% respectively, on the back of downturn in NESTLE (-5.8%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-3.6%) and NEM (-7.5%). Lastly, the Oil & Gas and AFR-ICT indices closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) eased to 2.1x from the 2.2x recorded in the previous trading session as 23 stocks advanced relative to the 11 that declined. The best performance was led by CHAMS (+10.0%), STANBIC (+9.8%) and CUTIX (+9.6%) while GLAXOSMITH (-9.5%), JAIZBANK (-8.2%) and NEM (-7.5%) led the laggards. We expect market performance to remain bullish at the end of the week as investors take advantage of undervalued stocks.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 5th March 2020 

Source: Afrinvest