MTNN, DANGCEM, GUARANTY lift market index as investors gain N46.3bn in price gains

Nigerian Equities Market closed in the green as the ASI appreciated by 36bps to 26,872.09 points owing to price appreciation in MTNN (+0.8%), DANGCEM (+0.6%) and GUARANTY (+1.6%). YTD returns moderated to -14.5% and market capitalisation increased N46.3bn to N13.0tn. However, activity level declined as volume and value traded dropped 10.5% and 25.4% to 239.2m units and N2.3bn respectively. The most active stocks by volume were FBNH (74.0m units) TRANSCORP (19.2m units), and ZENITH (18.3m units) while FBNH (N558.4m), GUARANTY (N506.2m) and ZENITH (N342.5m) led by value.

Sector performance was largely bullish as the Industrial Goods index, which lost 2.4% following sell-offs in CCNN (-10.0%) and WAPCO (-0.7%), was the lone loser of the 6 indices under our coverage. The Oil & Gas index advanced the most, up 1.1% due to buying interest in OANDO (+9.9%). Gains in FLOURMILLS (+9.9%), DANGSUGAR (+6.9%), and MTNN (+0.8%) pulled the Consumer Goods (0.6%) and AFR-ICT (0.5%) indices northward. Also, price appreciation in GUARANTY (+1.6%) and LAWUNION (+7.1%) buoyed the Banking and Insurance indices, up 5bps and 3bps respectively.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) dipped to 1.8x from 2.4x recorded yesterday as 21 stocks gained relative to 12 losers. The top gainers were CORNEREST (+10.0%), OANDO (+9.9%) and FLOURMILLS (+9.8%) while CCNN (-10.0%), JAIZBANK (-8.0%) and LASACO (-7.4%) were the top losers. The local bourse is expected to sustain gains in the near term although sentiment still remains weak.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 21st November, 2019 

Source: Afrinvest