Stock market kicks off the week in green, investors gain N21.6bn

The domestic equities market kicked off the week with a bullish performance driven by bargain hunting in DANGCEM (+0.6%), GTCO (+0.8%), and FBNH (+1.2%). Accordingly, NGX All-Share Index gained 10bps to 42,394.71 points, market capitalisation rose ₦21.6bn to ₦22.1tn while YTD return advanced to 5.3% from 5.2%. Trading activity weakened as volume and value traded fell 58.4% and 29.7% respectively to 142.2m units and ₦2.5bn. FBNH (20.2m units), GTCO (10.6m units), and SOVRENINS (10.1m units) led by volume while DANGCEM (₦726.3m), MTNN (₦357.2m), and GTCO (₦270.9m) led by value.

Across the sectors within our coverage, performance was mixed as 3 indices gained while 3 lost. The Industrial Goods index led gainers, up 31bps due to buying interest in DANGCEM (+0.6%). Trailing, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices gained 29bps and 3bps respectively due to bargain hunting in GTCO (+0.8%), FBNH (+1.2%), HONYFLOUR (+1.5%), and CADBURY (+1.2%). On the flip side, the Insurance index lost the most, down 48bps due to sell pressure on WAPIC (-1.9%) and CHIPLC (-6.9%). Similarly, the Oil & Gas and AFR-ICT indices shed 41bps and 30bps respectively following losses in OANDO (-2.1%) and MTNN (-0.6%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), improved to 1.9x from 1.1x as 21 stocks advanced while 11 stocks declined. NEIMETH (+9.8%), UPDC (+9.4%), and ROYALEX (+8.7%) led gainers while CILEASING (-8.7%), CHIPLC (-6.9%), and WAPIC (-5.9%) led decliners. We expect the improved investor sentiment to sustain bullish performance in the next trading session.

Market Statistics for Monday, 20th December 2021