Bull dominance gains momentum as market capitalisation inches up

The domestic bourse sustained its rally as gains in DANGCEM (+9.3%), MTNN (+1.8%) and STANBIC (+6.3%) pulled the All-Share Index (ASI) 354bps higher to 28,562.48 points. This is coming on the heels of the lull in money market instrument as treasury bills rate continued to drop. Consequently,  YTD return increased to 6.4% and market capitalisation rose by ₦470.9bn to ₦13.8tn. Activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 66.2% and 58.4% to 741.8m units and ₦9.2bn respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were UBA (156.0m units), ZENITH (86.1m units) and ACCESS (82.4m units) while ZENITH (₦1.9bn), UBA (₦1.1bn) and MTNN (₦1.3bn) were the top traded stocks by value.

Performance across all sectors was superb as all indices under our coverage closed green. The Industrial Goods index led gainers with a 6.2% gain, following substantial buy interest in DANGCEM (+9.3%) and WAPCO (+5.7%). The Banking (+3.7%) and Insurance (+2.7%) indices trailed due to gains in STANBIC (+6.3%), FBNH (+10.0%) and ZENITH (+3.8%) as well as MANSARD (+2.5%) and CHIPLC (+8.3%).  Similarly, price appreciation in MTNN (+1.8%), FLOURMILLS (+8.8%) and NASCON (+3.8%) pushed the AFR-ICT and Consumer Goods indices 1.0% and 0.3% higher respectively. Lastly, the Oil & Gas index edged 0.2% higher due to gains in CONOIL (+9.7%) and OANDO (+1.3%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 3.4x from the 1.4x recorded the previous trading day as 37 stocks gained against 11 decliners. The best performing stocks for the day were UNIONDAC (+10.0%), FBNH (+10.0%) and JBERGER (+9.8%) while TRIPPLEG (-9.4%), UPDCREIT (-9.0%) and THOMASWYATT (-7.9%) lost the most. Following the recent trend in the market, we maintain our bullish outlook on the market this week.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 8th January 2020 

Source: Afrinvest