Trading Week kicks-off on a positive note… ASI up 10bps

Today, the domestic equities market closed in the green territory as the ASI rose 10bps to settle at 26,559.10 points on the back of bargain hunting in DANGCEM (+0.55%), DANGFLOUR (+3.6%) and UBA (+1.69%). Consequently, YTD loss improved to -15.5% while market capitalisation rose by N11.5bn to N12.9tn. Activity level rose as volume and value traded were up by 10.0% and 82.5% to 129.1m units and N2.7bn respectively. The most active stocks by volume were GUARANTY (14.5m units), TRANSCORP (9.9m units) and ZENITH (8.3m units) while NESTLE (N1.4bn), GUARANTY (N387.3m) and DANGCEM (N260.6m) led by value.

Sector performance was mixed as 2 of 6 sectors under our coverage gained. The Insurance and Industrial Goods indices were up 1.8% and 0.2% respectively on the back of buying-interest in CHIPLC (+7.1%), MANSARD (+6.3%) and DANGCEM (+0.6%). On the other hand, sell-pressures on FBNH (-2.8%), ETI (-2.7%) and WEMA (-1.7%) dragged the Banking index down by 3bps. Furthermore, the Oil & Gas, AFR-ICT and Consumer Goods indices ended the trading day flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) rose to 1.2x from 0.8x recorded in the previous session as 11 stocks gained relative to 7 losers. The top performing stocks  were COURTVILLE (+10.0%), FIDSON (+9.7%) and CHIPLC (+7.1%) while UACN (-7.0%), UCAP (-4.7%) and FBNH (-2.8%) led losers. We maintain our bearish stance for the market, although the current low prices of stocks present opportunities for bargain hunting.

Market Statistics Monday, 14th October, 2019