Zenith, AirtelAF boost stock market as investors gain N412bn

Today, bullish sentiment pushed the NGX-ASI 1.7% higher to close at 45,430.14 points, supported by AIRTELAF (+10.0%), SEPLAT (+4.4%), and ZENITH (+0.4%). Consequently, YTD return improved to 6.4% while market capitalisation increased ₦417.2bn to ₦24.5tn. Volume and value traded rose by 7.5% and 365.3% respectively to 252.9m units and ₦8.9bn. GTCO (25.5m units), DANGCEM (24.5m units), and FBNH (23.1m units) led by volume while DANGCEM (₦6.5bn), GTCO (₦649.4m), and FBNH (₦277.2m) led by value.

Performance across our coverage sectors was bullish as 4 indices gained, 1 lost while the Industrial Goods index closed flat. Leading the advancers, the AFR-ICT index surged 5.0% as investors cherry-picked AIRTELAF (+10.0%). Similarly, the Oil & Gas and Insurance indices rose 2.2% and 0.6% respectively following price upticks in SEPLAT (+4.4%), CORNERST (+6.0%) and MANSARD (+1.7%), while ZENITH (+0.4%) and ACCESS (+0.5%) drove a 0.5% increase in the Banking index. On the other hand, the Consumer Goods index shed 2bps due to sell-offs in CHAMPION (-1.2%) and HONYFLOUR (-0.6%). 

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), softened to 0.9x from 2.0x as laggards (17) outpaced gainers (16). AIRTELAF (+10.0%), CORNERST (+6.0%), and COURTVILLE (+5.3%) led gainers while FTNCOCOA (-7.7%), CHIPLC (-7.2%), and REGALINS (-6.7%) led decliners. In tomorrow’s trading session we expect the positive sentiment to linger.

Market Statistics for Wednesday, 19th January 2022 

Source: Afrinvest