Nigerian Equities Market opens 2020 positive investors gain N12.4 bn

The equities market started the year positive as buying interest in MTNN (+3.8%), FBNH (+5.7%) and DANGSUGAR (+2.9%) pulled the All-Share Index (ASI) up 10bps to 26,867.79 points. Consequently, market capitalisation gained ₦12.4bn to close at ₦13.0tn. Activity level declined as volume and value traded fell by 74.9% and 4.8% to 264.1m units and ₦5.2bn respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were FBNH (60.3m units), ACCESS (33.5m units) and ZENITH (30.9m units) while SEPLAT (₦2.4bn), ZENITH (₦578.2m) and GUARANTY (₦553.4m) were the top traded stocks by value.

Sector performance was negative as only 2 of 6 indices under our coverage gained. The AFR-ICT and Insurance indices were the gainers, up 2.1% and 1.0% respectively, following price appreciation in MTNN (+3.8%) and WAPIC (+2.9%). Conversely, the Oil & Gas index led the laggards as declines in SEPLAT (-10.0%) and FORTE (-0.6%) dragged the index down 5.0%. Likewise, the Industrial Goods and Banking indices fell 2.3% and 0.4% respectively, due to sell-offs in WAPCO (-9.8%), GUARANTY (-1.7%) and STERLING (-4.5%). 

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) weakened to 0.6x from the 1.8x recorded in the previous trading day as 22 stocks declined, outmatching 13 gainers. The best performing stocks for the day were ROYALEX (+10.0%), CORNERSTONE (+8.9%) and COURTVILLE (+8.7%) while SEPLAT (-10.0%), GLAXOSMITH (-9.8%) and WAPCO (-9.8%) lost the most. As bargain hunting opportunities avail, we expect investors to buy into market bellwethers and stocks with strong fundamentals. However, we believe investors’ sentiment would remain tepid given that economic catalyst required to boost performance remains absent. 

VITAFOAM today announced a ₦0.42 kobo proposed dividend with qualification and closure dates scheduled for February 7 and 14, 2020 respectively while the AGM and payment dates were fixed for March 4 and 5, 2020 in that order.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 2nd January 2020 

Source: Afrinvest