Nigerian Stock market posts mild gain… ASI up 2bps

The domestic stock market was mildly dominated by bullish sentiment as the benchmark index went up by 2bps due to buying interest in MTNN (+1.1%), NESTLE (+3.3%), and STANBIC (+3.1%). Consequently, the All-Share index settled at 38,774.03 points, YTD loss remained at -3.7% and market capitalisation appreciated by ₦3.9bn to settle at ₦20.3tn. Trading activity improved as volume and value traded escalated 58.7% and 95.6% respectively to 356.5m units and ₦4.2bn. The most traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (55.0m units), ACCESS (38.4m units), and TRANSCORP (31.9m units) while ZENITH (₦1.2bn), GUARANTY (₦819.1m), and NESTLE (₦521.4m) led by value.

Across sectors that we cover, performance was bearish as 4 out of 6 indicators closed negative. The Banking index led the laggards, down 3.1% due to price depreciation in ZENITH (-4.1%), GUARANTY (-3.3%) and ACCESS (-2.5%). Similarly, the Insurance, Oil & Gas and Industrial Goods indices declined by 1.7%, 0.3% and 0.1% respectively as we saw sell-offs in MANSARD (-3.0%), AIICO (-0.8%), ARDOVA (-3.7%) and WAPCO (-2.3%). Conversely, the Consumer Goods and AFR-ICT indices improved by 1.9% and 0.5% respectively on the back of buying interest in NESTLE (+3.3%), FLOURMIL (+6.9%), and MTNN (+1.1%). 

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), continued to shrink to 0.4x from 0.7x recorded previously as 11 stocks advanced against 27 decliners. JAIZBANK (+10.0%), INITSPLC (+9.5%) and ROYALEX (+8.3%) were the top gainers while PHARMDEK (-9.5%), STERLNBA (-9.5%) and PRESTIGE (-8.7%) were the top decliners. In subsequent trading sessions, we anticipate that the equities market will sustain a positive momentum.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 7th April 2021