Stock market investors record margin gains of N2.8bn

Today, the local bourse recorded a slight gain of 1bp to move the benchmark index to 37,952.65 points due to buying interests in WEMABANK (+8.8%), PRESCO (+2.9%), and GTCO (+0.2%)  Accordingly, YTD loss was unchanged at -5.8% while market capitalisation rose by ₦2.8bn to ₦19.7tn. Trading activities was mixed as volume traded rose by 73.5% to 462.8m units while value traded fell by 60.6% to ₦1.2m. The most traded stocks by volume were JAIZBANK (217.1m units), STERLNBANK (78.2m units), and WEMABANK (19.2m units) while NIGERIAN BREWERIES (₦138.7m), STERLNBANK (₦119.6m), and JAIZBANK (₦116.6m) led by value.

Across sectors under our coverage, performance was bullish as 4 indices gained, the Banking index lost while the AFR-ICT index closed flat. The Insurance and Oil & Gas indices led the gainers, up 1.2% and 0.3%, respectively, driven largely by price appreciation in MANSARD (+2.3%), MBENEFIT (+5.3%), and ETERNA (+10.0%). In the same vein, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices inched higher by 10bps and 1bp, respectively, due to buying interests in HONEYFLOUR (+6.8%) and VITAFOAM (+2.3%). On the flip side, the Banking index slid by 40bps on the back of sell-offs in UBN (-2.7%), FBNH (-0.7%), and STERLNBANK (-3.2%). 

Investors sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 2.4x from 0.8x recorded in the last trading session as 22 stocks gained while 9 stocks lost. The top gainers were ETERNA (+10.0%), UPL (+9.9%), and CUTIX (+9.9%) while FTNCOCA (-7.3%), SOVRENINS (-6.1%) and ETI (-3.8%) led decliners. We expect the market to resume trading post-sallah holidays on a positive note, to be driven by high system liquidity and positive earnings expectation.

Market Statistics for Monday, 19th July 2021