Local Bourse Posts Bullish Performance… ASI Up 109bps

Gains in NESTLE (+10.0%), SEPLAT (+10.0%) and ACCESS (+6.9%), drove the benchmark index into the positive territory. The All Share Index surged 109bps to settle at 27,579.85 points while YTD loss eased to -12.3%. Accordingly, market capitalisation printed at 13.4tn as investors gained N144.5bn. However, activity level waned as volume and value traded declined 60.3% and 63.1% to 183.5m units and N2.9bn respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were GUARANTY (98.4m units), ACCESS (40.7m units) and FBNH (40.1m units) while the top traded stocks by value were GUARANTY (N2.8bn), STANBIC (N388.2m) and ACCESS (N314.5m).

Across sectors, performance was bullish as all indices under our coverage gained. The Oil & Gas and Consumer Goods indices led gainers, up 5.7% and 4.9% respectively, due to price appreciation in SEPLAT (+10.0%), TOTAL (+10.0%), NESTLE (+10.0%) and DANGSUGAR (+1.9%). The Insurance and Banking indices trailed, rising 3.0% and 0.5% respectively, following gains in CONTINSURE (+9.9%), NEM (+9.5%), ACCESS (+6.9%) and FBNH (+1.9%). Similarly, buying interest in CUTIX (+6.3%) pushed the Industrial index up by 2bps. The AFR-ICT index closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 2.3x from 0.9x recorded yesterday as 16 stocks gained against 7 stocks that lost. The top gainers today were SEPLAT (+10.0%), TOTAL (+10.0%) and NESTLE (+10.0%) while the top losers were FORTE (-6.8%), HONYFLOUR (-5.9%) and CUSTODIAN (-4.8%). In the absence of any major stimulus, we expect a bearish performance for the rest of the week. Nonetheless, we see opportunities for bargain hunting in stocks with sound fundamentals.

Market Statistics Thursday, 26th September 2019 

Afrinvest