Nigerian Stock market records first gain of the week… ASI up 3bps 

Trading in the equities market closed in the green following buying interest in ZENITH (+4.8%), FLOURMILL (+6.2%) and GUARANTY (+0.8%). Consequently, the benchmark index gained 3bps to 40,164.86 points, YTD loss remained at -0.3% and market capitalisation rose ₦5.6bn to ₦21.0tn. Trading activity improved as volume and value advanced 16.8% and 7.6% to 338.0m units and ₦3.8bn respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were FBNH (64.6m units), ZENITH (52.7m units) and TRANSCORP (42.0m units) while ZENITH (₦1.3bn), GUARANTY (₦508.0m) and FBNH (₦471.8m) led by value.

Across sectors under our coverage, performance  was mixed. The Banking index was the lone gainer, up 1.7% due to strong demand for ZENITH (+4.8%), GUARANTY (+0.8%) and UBA (+1.2%). Conversely, the Consumer Goods and Insurance indices declined 1.6% and 0.9% respectively following price declines in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-8.5%), DANGSUGAR (-2.7%), MANSARD (-3.4%) and CORNERST (-7.3%). Lastly, the AFR-ICT,  Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) waned to 0.7x from the 0.8x recorded previously as 16 stocks advanced against 23 losers. LIVESTOCK (+7.1%), AIICO (+7.1%) and FLOURMILL (+6.2%) were the top gainers while SUNUASSUR (-9.9%), LASACO (-9.9%) and AFRIPRUD (-9.8%) were the top losers. We expect corporate earnings release to guide the direction of the market this week.

Market Statistics for Tuesday, 23rd February 2021