Nigeria Equities Market: Bulls wrap up 2021… ASI up 1.1%

The Bulls resurfaced on the local bourse to conclude trading for the year on a positive note. Accordingly, the NGX All-Share Index swung 1.1% higher w/w to settle at 42,716.44 points with the market returning 6.1% YTD from 4.9% in the previous week. Similarly, market capitalisation rose ₦471.4bn w/w to ₦22.3tn. Activity level intensified as the average volume and value rose 26.5% and 436.0% w/w to 455.2m units and ₦9.9bn respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were FBNH (177.8m units), ZENITH (157.4m units), and ACCESS (102.7m units) while NESTLE (₦9.6bn), ZENITH (₦4.0bn), and MTNN (₦2.6bn) led by value. 

Performance was bullish across sectors within our coverage as 4 indices gained while 2 lost. The Consumer Goods and AFR-ICT indices led the advancers, up 6.2% and 4.0% w/w respectively on account of positive price movement in NESTLE (+10.0%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+4.2%), and MTNN (+7.8%). Also, buying interest in ACCESS (+5.1%), ZENITH (+3.1%), and WAPIC (+14.3%) supported a 2.6% and 1.9% w/w respectively gain in the Banking and Insurance indices respectively. Conversely, the Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices declined 3.9% and 1.1% w/w following sell-offs on BUACEMENT (-10.0%), OANDO (-3.9%), and ARDOVA (-3.0%). 
    
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 1.5x  from 1.3x recorded last week as 31 stocks gained against 21 losers. The top performing stocks for the week were REGALINS (+18.6%), SOVRENINS (+15.4%), and WAPIC (+14.3%) while MAYBAKER (-10.9%), BUACEMENT (-10.0%), and JAIZBANK (-9.7%) were the top underperforming stocks. Next week, we expect the market to resume trading in the New Year on a negative note as we anticipate profit-taking.