Market Statistics Tuesday, 20th January, 2015

Bullish Momentum Weakens as MPC Retains Policy Stance… NSE ASI                             gains 15bps
Market Cap                             (N’bn) 9,932.34
Market Cap                             (US$’bn) 52.51
NSE All-Share Index           29,819.39
Daily Performance               % 0.2
1 Week Performance           % (0.2)
YTD Performance               % (14.0)
Daily Volume (Million)        311.5
Daily Value (N’bn)                  4.1
Daily Value (US$’m)              21.9

Positive momentum persists Tuesday, albeit on a weak note as the benchmark index inched higher by 15basis points to close at 29,819.39pts. Compared to the gains in the previous day, the index was dragged down by losses sustained in Dangote Cement (4.9%). The market activity level was mixed as volume declined 26.9 per cent to close 311.5m units while value advanced 20.7 per cent to settle at N4.1bn. In line with the performance of the market on Tuesday, market capitalization rose by 0.2 per cent (N15.3bn) to close at N9.9trillion.
The Banking Index Tops amidst Mixed Sector Performance
The Banking Index led the sector gainers’ chart with 2.2 per cent attributable to sustained gains in GUARANTY (5.3%), UBN (5.0%) and STANBIC (3.5%); followed by the Insurance index with 1.1% driven by gains in NEM (3.5%) and MANSARD (2.8%) while the Industrial index advanced 0.8%. On the other hand, the Consumer goods index and Oil and Gas index declined 0.6% and 0.1% respectively on the backdrop of selling pressures in DANGFLOUR (0.6%), NESTLE (2.9%), FLOURMILL (1.9%),
SEPLAT (1.9%) and OANDO (0.3%).
Market Sentiments Weaken…Bearish Sessions Ahead
Market breadth closed negative at 0.8x (21 advancers against 26 decliners). Topping the gainers’ chart are GUARANTY (5.3%), UBN (5.0%) and University Press (5.0%) while OKOMUOIL (6.1%), RTBRISCOE (5.0%) and UNIONDICON (5.0%) led the laggards. Against the backdrop of MPC retention of previous monetary policy stance at its just concluded maiden meeting for 2015, we expect the market to continue to oscillate around the recent bounds. Given the current momentum of the market, we expect price corrections in trading sessions ahead as investors take profits of recent gains.