Market rebounds on last minute rally in DANGCEM… NSE ASI up 0.6%

Transactions on Nigeria’s stock market rose 7.13 per cent to N220.27 billion in June from a month earlier, lifted by increased flows from foreign investors, stock exchange data showed. The value of foreign transactions on the local bourse rose by 6.66 per cent to N101.53 billion in the period, according to the data. The All Share Index recorded a 0.6 per cent uptick to settle at 36,316.58 points, while YTD gain rose to 35.1 per cent. The upturn in the market was largely due to bargain hunting in DANGCEM (+2.7%) (Ex-DANGCEM, market would have lost 0.3%). An upward movement in prices of ZENITH (+2.3%), FLOURMILLS (+4.9%) and DANSUGAR (+1.6%) also boosted market performance.

Accordingly, market capitalisation rose to N12.5 trillion as investors added N73.8 billion. Activity level improved as volume and value traded advanced 0.2 per cent and 7.6 per cent to 225.1million units and N5.5 billion respectively. Performance across sectors was mixed as 3 of 5 indices closed positive. The Industrial Goods index led gainers, adding 0.9 per cent due to an increase in DANGCEM (+2.7%). Likewise, the Insurance and Banking indices climbed 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent owing to upticks in CONTINSURE (+4.8%) and ZENITH (+2.3%) respectively. On the flip side, the Oil & Gas index maintained its losing streak, shedding 1.2 per cent as a result of losses in OANDO (-3.8%) and MOBIL (-5.0%). In the same vein, selloff in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-0.5%), NESTLE (-0.8%) and GUINNESS (-3.4%) dragged the Consumer Goods index 0.4 per cent lower.

Investor sentiment improved as market breadth increased to 0.6x (from 0.3x yesterday) with 15 stocks advancing against 27 declining stocks. The best performing stocks today were FIDSON (+5.0%), MAYBAKER (+5.0%) and FLOURMILL (+4.9%) while ETERNA (-6.0%), MOBIL (-5.0%) and NAHCO (-4.9%) declined the most.  In line with our expectation, today’s market performance was largely driven by bargain hunting in market bellwethers following three consecutive days of decline. Hence, we expect the market to trade in similar trend tomorrow.

Nigerian assets, largely shunned by foreign investors over the past three years, are back on their radar thanks to a drop in valuations and improved liquidity. The equity market has benefited from the introduction more than four months ago of a new window for investors to trade the Naira at market-determined exchange rates. The report showed that foreign investors’ transactions on the local bourse rose 59.81 per cent to N430.23 billion in the first half of this year, compared with N269.22 billion a year earlier. Last week, the market had rallied for an eighth consecutive week and peaked at a 33-month high before profit-takers took advantage of the gains to sell their holdings. The market’s main index has gained about 34 per cent year-to-date but profit-taking has dominated trading since the start of the week.

Market Statistics Thursday, 17th August 2017
Market Cap (N’bn)                                     12,517.3
Market Cap (US$’bn)                                        41.0
NSE All-Share Index                                  36,316.58
Daily Performance                                              0.6
Week Performance %                                        (4.7)
YTD Performance %                                          35.1
Daily Volume (Million)                                       225.1
Daily Value (N’bn)                                                 5.5
Daily Value (US$’m)                                            17.9