The domestic bourse kick-started trading activities for the week on a positive note as gains in GUARANTY (+4.8%), ZENITH (+2.3%) and INTBREW (+8.0%) bolstered the All Share Index (ASI), up 95bps to settle at 32,129.94 points.
As a result, market capitalisation increased by N112.9bn to N12.0tn while YTD performance improved to 2.2%. However, activity level weakened as volume and value traded dipped 33.0% and 30.3% to 227.8m units and N2.6bn respectively.
The most traded stocks by volume were DIAMOND (33.0m units), UBA (31.1m units) and ZENITH (28.9m units) while the top traded stocks by value were ZENITH (N703.1m), DANGCEM (N510.8m) and GUARANTY(N391.0m).
Mixed Sector Performance
Across sectors, performance was mixed albeit positively skewed, as 3 of 5 stocks under our coverage closed in the green. The Banking index was up 2.7% on the back of buying interests in GUARANTY (+4.8%) and ZENITH (+2.3%).
Similarly, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices posted moderate gains, advancing 0.4% and 0.3% respectively based on price upticks in INTBREW (+8.0%), DANGFLOUR (+5.1%),DANGCEM (+0.2%) and WAPCO (+0.8%).
On the flip side, the Insurance index closed in the red, declining 0.2%, dragged by losses in NEM (-2.4%) while the Oil and Gas index closed flat.
Investor Sentiment Strengthens
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved today to 2.5x as 25 stocks advanced against the 10 stocks that declined.
The top outperforming stocks were CUTIX (+9.8%), NPFMCRFB (+9.7%) and WEMA (+9.1%) while PZ (-9.6%), LIVESTOCK (-9.0%) and LAWUNION (-5.5%) were the least performing stocks for the day.
We believe that the positive performance recorded yesterday will persist into subsequent trading sessions as investors continue to take positions in fundamentally sound stocks.
