Gains in Bellwethers buoy Market performance… NSE ASI up 1.5% 

The local bourse began the week on a positive note as the NSE All Share Index gained 1.5 per cent to settle at 43,513.93 points while YTD return expanded to 13.8 per cent. Accordingly, investors gained N229.1 billion in value as market capitalisation stood at N15.6 trillion. Today’s positive performance was largely driven by upticks in DANGCEM (+3.8%), SEPLAT (+8.6%) and GUARANTY (+1.8%). On the flip side, activity level softened as volume and value traded fell 37.5 per cent and 37.1 per cent to 252.0 million units and N5.7 billion respectively.

Performance across sectors was broadly positive as all indices under our coverage trended northwards.  The Oil & Gas index was the top gainer, up 4.8 per cent following buying interest in SEPLAT (+8.6%) and TOTAL (+4.7%). The uptick in SEPLAT could be attributable to positive investor sentiment to the company’s impressive FY:2017 earnings report as well as its recent “B2 with Stable Outlook” credit rating by Moody’s Rating Agency. The Industrial Goods index trailed, closing 2.2 per cent higher due to price appreciation in DANGCEM (+3.8%) and WAPCO (+0.4%) while the Insurance index gained 0.8 per cent buoyed by gains in CONTINSURE (+4.9%) and NEM (+4.9%).  In the same vein, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices rose 0.4% and 2bps higher as GUARANTY (+1.8%), ACCESS (+1.1%), FIDELITY (+5.0%), UNILEVER (+5.0%) and HONYFLOUR (+1.9%) all closed in the green.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved to 1.3x from 0.9x recorded the previous session as 32 stocks advanced against 25 decliners. The top performing stocks were CAVERTON (+10.0%), JAPAULOIL (+9.5%) and FIRSTALU (+8.9%) while REGALINS (-8.3%), LEARNAFRICA (-4.9%) and UNIC (-4.6%) were the worst performers. Following improved investor sentiment, we expect performance in subsequent sessions to remain largely positive though we anticipate market movement to be determined by investor reaction to companies earnings results

Market Statistics Monday, 5th March 2018
Market Cap (N’bn)                                  15,632.2
Market Cap (US$’bn)                                    51.1
NSE All-Share Index                             43,513.93
Daily Performance %                                     1.5
Week Performance %                                   2.2
YTD Performance %                                   13.8
Daily Volume (Million)                                252.0
Daily Value (N’bn)                                          5.7
Daily Value (US$’m)                                    18.8