Equity Market slightly rebounds… ASI up 0.6% 

The domestic equity market had an uptick in performance as the All Share Index (ASI) gained 0.6% recovering from a losing streak this week to close at 29,517.80 points, still below the 30,000-mark. Market YTD return settled at -6.1% and market capitalisation inched higher by N67.5bn to N11.0tn. Today’s performance was buoyed by gains in GUARANTY (+6.1%), DANGCEM (+0.9%) and ZENITH (-2.9%). Activity level strengthened as volume and value traded increased 64.1% to 385.4m units and 36.6% to N3.1bn. The top traded stocks by volume were CUSTODIAN (120.3m units), ACCESS (60.5m units) and FBNH (48.9m units) while the top traded stocks by value were CUSTODIAN (N697.6m), ZENITH (N515.5m) and FBNH (N347.2bn).

Today, performance across sectors was mixed as 3 of 5 indices under our coverage closed in the green. The Banking index recorded the highest gain, up 2.7% due to price appreciation in ZENITH (+2.86%) and DIAMOND (+5.85%). Similarly, the Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices trailed 2.2% and 0.1% respectively on the back gains of  DANGCEM (+0.9%), WAPCO (+2.56%), CCNN (+4.85%), FORTE (+5.46%) and ETERNA (+8.86%).  On the flip side, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices dipped 2.1% and 1.8% respectively dragged by losses in NEM (-10.0%), LINKASSURE (-9.7%), MBENEFIT (-4.8), NESTLE (-3.4%) and GUINNESS (-10.0%).

Investor sentiment measured as market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 1.4x from 0.7x recorded yesterday as 21 stocks advanced against 15 that declined. The best performers were LAWUNION (+10.0%), JBERGER (+9.9%) and ETERNA (+8.9%) while GUINNESS (-10.0%), NEM (-9.9%) and RESORTSAL (-9.8%) led the laggards. Bearish sentiment still clouds the market largely due to polity risks. We envision profitable opportunities in short-term trading on bellwethers as they have been the dominant influences of market performance in recent times.

Market Statistics Thursday, 10th January 2019 

Market Cap (N’bn)                                    11,007.4

Market Cap (US$’bn)                                      36.0

NSE All-Share Index                                29,517.73

Daily Performance %                                        0.6

1 Week Performance %                                   (3.7)

YTD Performance %                                        (6.1)

Daily Volume (Million)                                     385.4

Daily Value (N’bn)                                               3.1

Daily Value (US$’m)                                          10.0

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