Nigerian Stock market closes positive, ASI up 0.2%

Buying interest in DANGCEM (+1.4%), ZENITH (+0.4%) and UBA (+0.7%) buoyed market performance as the All-Share index rose 0.2% to close at 38,482.52 points. Consequently, YTD loss improved to -4.4% while market capitalisation increased by ₦35.5bn to settle at ₦20.1tn. Trading activity weakened as volume and value traded fell by 42.9% and 49.5% to 156.9m units and ₦1.3bn respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were JAPAULGO (20.0m units), FBNH (12.2m units), and TRANSCORP (11.8m units) while SEPLAT (₦320.0m), ZENITH (₦121.2m), and UACN (₦118.9m) led by value.

Across sectors under our coverage, performance was mixed as 3 indices gained and 3 lost. The Insurance index led gainers, up 0.8% due to buying interest in WAPIC (+3.5%) and NEM (+2.4%). Similarly, the Industrial Goods and Banking indices rose 0.5% and 2bps respectively, following price appreciation in DANGCEM (+1.4%) and ZENITH (+0.4%). Conversely, the Consumer Goods, Oil & Gas and AFR-ICT indices fell 16bps, 5bps and 1bps respectively on the back of sell-offs in DANGSUGAR (-0.3%), OANDO (-0.7%) and CWG (-9.7%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), weakened to 0.8x from 1.1x in the last trading session as 15 stocks advanced while 20 declined. UPL (+9.4%), REGALINS (+8.2%) and VERITASKAP (+5.0%) led gainers while CWG (-9.7%), IKEJAHOTEL (-9.1%) and NASCON (-8.8%) led decliners. We expect the market to extend its soft gain in the next trading session, amid bargain hunting on some large-cap stocks.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 2nd June 2021