Nigerian Stock Market sustains gain… ASI Advances 0.7%

The local bourse closed in the green as the All-Share Index rose 71bps to 21,073.26 points due to gains in WAPCO (+9.8%), DANGSUGAR (+9.6%) and ZENITH (+2.3%). Consequently, YTD loss eased to -21.5% whle market capitalisation increased ₦77.2bn to ₦11.0tn. Activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 1.1% and 5.1% to 346.4m units and ₦5.2bn respectively. The most active stocks by volume were GUARANTY (102.2m units), FBNH (64.7m units) and ZENITH (30.3m units) while GUARANTY  (₦1.8bn), NESTLE (₦1.4bn) and ZENITH (₦395.4m) led the value chart.  

All indices under our coverage recorded a bullish performance save the Oil & Gas index which fell 0.6% as ARDOVA (-9.6%) lost. Buying interest in ZENITH (+2.3%), GUARANTY (+1.7%) and ETI (+10.0%) drove the Banking index up 2.1%. Trailing, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices advanced 1.0% apiece due to price appreciation in DANGSUGAR (+9.6%), FLOURMILL (+2.4%) and WAPCO (+9.8%). The Insurance and AFR-ICT indices also rose 0.1% apiece following gains in LINKASSURE (+9.5%) and MTNN (+0.2%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 3.6x from the 2.3x recorded in the previous trading session as 25 stocks advanced relative to 7 decliners. The best performers were ETI (+10.0%), IKEJAHOTEL (+10.0%) and WEMABANK (+9.8%) while UNIONDAC (-10.0%), ARDOVA (-9.6%) and GLAXOSMITH (-9.4%) led the losers. We do not expect to see a sustained bullish run although investors have continued to seek bargain hunting opportunities.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 8th April 2020 

Source: Afrinvest