Stock market index rose due to price appreciation

Today, the domestic bourse commenced the week on a positive note as the benchmark index rose 1.9% (0 31. 902.48 due to price appreciation in MINN, NB, and INTBREW. Accordingly, YTD return improved to 21.5% (previously 19.2%) while market capitalisation gained N521.6 billion to N27.9 trillion. Meanwhile, trading activity was mixed as volume fell 2.0% to 337 6m units while value traded advanced 4.6% to 5.60n

Across our coverage sectors, performance was bullish as 4 Indices gained while 2 lost. The AFR-ICT and Consumer Goods indices led gainers, up 4.4% and 2.2% respectively due to price uptick in MTNN (+9.5%), INTBREW (+9.6%), and NB (+10.0%). Trailing, the Oil & Gas and industrial Goods indices rose 0.5% and 0.2% respectively following buying interest in CONOIL, OANDO, WAPCO and CAP. Conversely, the Insurance and Banking Indices declined 1.3% and 0.3% respectively, following price depreciation in AlICO (-5.0%), WAPIC (-6.7%), ZENITH (-0.6%), and UBN (-1.6%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, weakened to 0.28x from 0.53x as 37 stocks gained, 21 lost while 57 closed flat. We expect the domestic bourse to sustain the bullish performance the next trading session on the back or improved