Buying interest drives positive performance in Nigerian stock ASI up 1.0%

The domestic equities market closed on a positive note as the All-Share Index rose 98bps to 39,085.78 points while YTD loss improved to -2.9%. Buying interest in DANGCEM (+2.3%), MTNN (+2.4%), and STANBIC (+10.0%) weighed positively on today’s performance. Consequently, investors gained ₦199.2bn as market capitalisation rose to ₦20.4tn. Trading activity waned as volume and value declined 11.8% and 4.7% respectively to 361.9m units and ₦5.7bn. The most traded stocks by volume were UBN (79.3m units), GUARANTY (72.6m units), and VERITASKAP (50.2m units) while GUARANTY (₦2.3bn), MTNN (₦1.1bn) and DANGCEM (₦451.9m) led by value.

Across sectors that we cover, performance was bullish as 4 indicators trended northward. The AFR-ICT index led the gainers, up 1.2% due to price appreciation in MTNN (+2.4%). Similarly, the Oil & Gas, Industrial Goods and Consumer Goods indices rose 0.7% apiece on account of buying interest in OANDO (+8.7%), DANGCEM (+2.3%), GUINNESS (+8.8%), and INTBREW (+2.8%). On the flip side, profit-taking in WAPIC (-9.1%), MANSARD (-2.0%), ETI (-2.1%) and ACCESS (-0.6%) dragged the Insurance and Banking indices lower by 0.6% and 0.2% respectively. 

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 1.3x from the 1.0x recorded previously as 20 stocks gained against 15 decliners. STANBIC (+10.0%), NPFMCRFBK (+9.6%) and CORNERST (+8.9%) were the top gainers while MRS (-9.7%), WAPIC (-9.1%) and WAPCO (-7.1%) were the top decliners. In the subsequent trading session, we expect profit-taking in the local bourse.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 24th March 2021