Equities Market sustains positive performance… NSE ASI Up 24bps

Performance of the domestic bourse remained on the uptrend today as the All Share Index (ASI) increased 0.2 per cent to settle 42,258.78 points while YTD return improved to 10.5 per cent. Consequently, investors gained N36.1 billion in value as market capitalisation rose to N15.2 trillion. Sustained buying interest in financials, especially in UBA (+3.2%), FBNH (+3.1%) and ZENITH (+3.1%), was the main driver of the positive performance. However, activity level softened as volume and value traded dipped 40.0 per cent and 41.9 per cent to 342.1m units and N3.1 billion respectively.

Performance across sectors was largely positive as all indices, save for the Consumer Goods index which shed 0.3% largely on the back of losses in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-1.3%) and DANGSUGAR (-2.7%), trended northwards. The Banking and Oil & Gas indices appreciated 0.7 per cent apiece due to a rally in ZENITH (+3.1%), UBA (+3.2%) and TOTAL (+4.8%). In the same vein, bargain hunting in WAPIC (+4.9%) and AIICO (+4.3%) pushed the Insurance index 0.3 per cent higher. Likewise, the Industrial Goods index added 0.2 per cent as WAPCO (+0.5%) closed in the green.

Market breadth (advance/decline ratio) which measures investor sentiment turned positive today, improving to 1.4x from 0.7x recorded yesterday as 24 stocks closed in the green while 17 stocks declined. JAPAULOIL (+5.4), WAPIC (+4.9%) and TOTAL (+4.8%) emerged top gainers of the day while UNIC (-6.7%) COURTVILLE (-5.6%) and AGLEVENTIS (-5.0%) were the worst performers. We expect the market to sustain a positive close to the week as investors seek for bargain opportunities in the market ahead of full year earnings releases

Market Statistics Thursday, 22nd February 2018
Market Cap (N’bn)                                                   15,165.2
Market Cap (US$’bn)                                                     49.5
NSE All-Share Index                                              42,256.78
Daily Performance %                                                      0.2
Week Performance %                                                    (0.8)
YTD Performance %                                                     10.5
Daily Volume (Million)                                                 342.1
Daily Value (N’bn)                                                           3.1
Daily Value (US$’m)                                                     17.4