The Bulls Sustain Dominance… ASI up 1.1%

Today, buying interest in BUACEMENT (+6.1%), MTNN (+1.2%), and AIRTELAF (+1.3%) sustained bullish performance spurring a 1.1% appreciation in the All-Share index to 41,704.11 points. Likewise, market capitalisation gained ₦237.1bn to ₦21.8tn while YTD return improved to 3.6%. Trading activity waned as volume and value traded fell 56.7% and 33.4% respectively to 216.2m units and ₦3.4bn. The most traded stocks by volume were FBNH (51.9m units), ETI (20.0m units), and TRANSCORP (14.6m units) while AIRTELAF (₦722.2bn), FBNH (₦628.3m), and MTNN (₦458.4m) led by value.

Performance across sectors within our coverage was bullish as 5 indices gained while 1 index lost. The Industrial Goods index led gainers, up 2.2% on the back of buying interest in BUACEMENT (+1.2%). Trailing, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices advanced 1.6% and 1.5% respectively driven by bargain hunting in NEM (+5.0%), CHIPLC (+9.1%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+7.4%), and DANGSUGAR (+2.3%). Similarly, the AFR-ICT and Banking indices rose 1.2% and 0.2% respectively on account of price uptick in MTNN (+1.2%), AIRTELAF (+1.3%), ETI (+2.1%), and UBN (+1.0%). On the flip side, the Oil & Gas index was the lone loser, down 0.4% due to extended sell-off in OANDO (-1.8%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 1.3x from 1.2x as 23 stocks advanced against 18 declining stocks. CUTIX (+10.0%), NGXGROUP (+9.8%), and CHIPLC (+9.1%) led gainers while NEIMETH (-4.9%), UNIVINSURE (-4.8%), and NAHCO (-3.6%) led the laggards. In the final trading session of the week, we anticipate a pullback occasioned by profit-taking activities.

Market Statistics for Thursday, 21st October 2021