Post-election trading begins on a positive note… ASI up 57bps

As investors await the results of the 2019 Presidential elections, the domestic bourse experienced mild bargain hunting in bellwethers – NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+4.0%), ZENITH (+1.0%) and DANGCEM (+0.1%). This drove the All Share Index (ASI) 57bps higher to 32,700.12 points, YTD gain inched to 4.0% while market capitalisation improved slightly by N68.8bn to settle at N12.2tn. Activity level was however mixed as volume traded decreased 0.4% to 219.7m units while value traded increased 147.7% to N5.5bn. NIGERIAN BREWERIES (42.7m units), DIAMOND (30.8m units) and ACCESS (20.7m units) led the top trades by volume while by value NIGERIAN BREWERIES (N3.6bn), GUARANTY (N733.9m) and ZENITH (N337.0m) led.

Across sectors, performance was bullish as all indices under our coverage trended northward. The Consumer Goods index led gainers, up 1.3% on the back of buying interests in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+4.0%) and DANGFLOUR (+10.0%). The Insurance and Banking indices trailed appreciating 1.1% and 0.8% due to gains in NEM (+3.4%), SOVRENINS (+8.7%), ZENITH (+1.0%) and UBA (+2.5%). In the same vein, the Oil & Gas index advanced 0.1% as MOBIL (+1.1%) and OANDO (+1.5%) closed in the green. Lastly, the Industrial Goods index closed flat with a bullish bias as investors took advantage of bargain opportunities in DANGCEM (+0.1%) towards the end of today’s session.

Investor sentiment as measured by the market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened to 3.1x from 1.2x recorded the prior Friday as 25 stocks advanced against 8 decliners. The top performers today were DANGFLOUR (+10.0%), ABCTRANS (+9.6%) and VERITASKAP (+9.5%) while UNIONDAC (-6.5%), TOTAL (-2.6%) and CUTIX (-1.6%) led laggards. We observed cautious trading in today’s trading session as investors await the results of the 2019 Presidential elections. We expect market direction this week to be largely determined by the outcome of the election.