Consumer goods stocks boost performance… ASI Up 2bps

Price upticks in the Consumer Goods stocks – NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+4.7%), INTBREW (+9.9%) and FLOURMILL (+4.6%) buoyed the performance of the local bourse today as the benchmark index improved to 28,665.82 points. As a result, market capitalisation increased ₦3.5bn to ₦15.0tn and YTD return stood at 6.8%. Activity level varied as volume traded rose 3.5% to 297.3m units and value traded declined 13.9% to ₦2.9bn. The most traded stocks by volume were UBA (72.4m units), ZENITH (27.2m units) and UACN (22.2m units) while ZENITH (₦568.2m), UBA  (₦506.8m) and GUARANTY (₦472.6m) led by value.

Performance across sectors was bearish as 4 of 6 indices under our coverage closed in the red while the AFR-ICT index closed flat. The Consumer Goods index was the lone gainer due to price appreciation in  NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+4.7%), INTBREW (+9.9%) and FLOURMILL (+4.6%). Conversely, the Insurance and Banking indices led the laggards, down 1.2% and 1.0% respectively following price declines in CORNERSTONE (-4.8%), AIICO (-4.5%),  GUARANTY (-1.3%), and ACCESS (-2.5%). Similarly, losses in WAPCO (-2.6%) and MOBIL (-4.6%) dragged the Industrial Goods and  Oil & Gas indices lower by 0.9% and 0.2% respectively. 

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) rose to 1.4x from the 1.1x recorded previously as 23 stocks gained against the 17 that declined. INTBREW (+9.9%), UCAP (+8.2%) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+4.7%) were top gainers while REGALINS (-8.3%), CORNERSTONE (-4.8%) and PZ (-4.7%) led the laggards. We are not optimistic of sustained bullish performance in subsequent trading sessions. However, investors may position ahead of Q3 earnings releases.

Market Statistics for Tuesday, 20th September 2020