The local bourse opened the week sustaining the positive momentum witnessed from the previous Thursday trading session after the listing ofMTNN on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Thus, the NSE All Share Index (ASI) rose 174bps to settle at 29,374.47 points while YTD return moderated to -6.5%. Consequently, investors gained N220.1bn as market capitalisation increased to N12.9tn. The positive performance can be attributed to gains in MTNN (+10.0%), DANGCEM (+1.1%) and GUINNESS (+3.0%).
However, activity level was mixed as volume traded fell 15.0% to 213.8.0m units while value traded surged 44.4% to N7.9bn. MTNN (51.4m units), FBNH (17.5m units) and UBA (17.2m units) were the top traded stocks by volume while MTNN (N6.2bn), GUARANTY (N464.5m) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (N307.8m) led the top traded stock by value.
Mixed Performance
Performance across sectors was mixed as 2 out of 5 indices under our coverage closed in the green. Bargain hunting in NEM (+7.3%) andLINKASSURE (+9.1%) drove the Insurance index higher by 1.8%. Similarly, the Consumer Goods index marginally rose 4bps on account of uptick in GUINNESS (+3.0%) and DANGFLOUR (+1.2%). On the other hand, the Banking and Oil & Gas indices shed 1.1% apiece as a result of sell-offs in ACCESS (-5.4%), GUARANTY (-0.7%) and FORTE (-9.9%), while the Industrial Goods index dipped 4bps following losses in WAPCO (-2.9%) and CUTIX (-1.7%).
Investor Sentiment Softens
Investor sentiment as measured by the market breadth (advance/decline ratio) softened to 0.9x from 1.0x recorded on Friday as 17 stocks advanced against 20 decliners.
Leading the gainers yesterday were MCNICHOLS (+10.0%), MTNN (+10.0%) and THOMASWY (+9.7%) while FORTE (-9.9%), ETRANZACT (-9.8%) and NEIMETH (-8.2%) were the worst performers.
Following yesterday’s positive performance, we expect the market to sustain its bullish run largely due to the strong investors’ interest in the highly attractive MTNN stock.
