Equity Market Remains Upbeat… NSE ASI Advances for 8th Session

The Nigerian equities market sustained its bullish run today, extending gains to the 8th consecutive session, as the All Share Index (ASI) advanced 1.3% to close at 26,756.21 points.

The bullish close took the benchmark index MTD gain to 3.9% while paring YTD loss to 0.4%. In turn, investors gained N116.8m as market capitalisation rose to N9.2tn. Performance was buoyed by gains in market heavyweights across sectors – DANGCEM(+1.6%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+1.5%), GUARANTY (+1.7) and OANDO (+10.1%). However, activity level was mixed as volume traded surged 101.5% to 539.2m units while value traded fell 13.6% to settle at N2.8bn.

Industrial Goods Index Emerges Lone Loser
Performance across sectors remained overwhelmingly positive as all indices closed in the green save for the Industrial Goods index which dipped 0.3% on account of profit-taking in WAPCO(-2.2%) which offset gains in DANGCEM (+1.6%).

The Banking index led sector gainers, up 2.2% on the back of strong appetite for Tier-1 banks – GUARANTY (+1.7%), UBA (+4.5%) and ACCESS (+4.9%). The Oil & Gas index followed, adding 0.7% on account of price appreciation in OANDO (+10.1%).

Likewise, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices advanced 0.7% apiece against the backdrop of rally in WAPIC (+4.0%), NIGERIANBREWERIES (+1.5%) and PZ (+4.7%).

Investor Sentiment Strengthens Further
Investor sentiment strengthened significantly as market breadth improved to 4.3x from 2.1x recorded yesterday, as 34 stocks advanced whilst only 9 declined.

The gainers chart was topped by OANDO (+10.1%), FIDSON (+9.5%) and TRANSCORP (+7.1%) while LINKASSURE (-3.7%), DANGSUGAR (-3.6%) and TOTAL (-2.4%) led the laggards list.

The continuous positive momentum in equities well after the Q1 earnings season suggests risk appetite for Naira assets trading at attractive valuation is strengthening across board. As noted yesterday, the equities market breached the over-bought boundary with 14-Day RSI currently at 74.8.

We see an increasing likelihood of profit taking by investors in subsequent sessions but maintain a positive short term perspective for equities.
Market Statistics Tuesday, 9th May 2017