Equities reverse downtrend, gains 0.17%

 

Gains resurfaced on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), albeit marginally, as the All Share Index (ASI) inched higher by 0.17 percent to 40,499.04 points, owing to renewed interests in industrial goods stocks.
The bourse rebounded following buying interest in Dangote Cement, the ASI would have closed 25 basis points lower. Consequently, investors gained N25.2 billion in value as market capitalization rose to N14.6 trillion while year to date return improved to 5.9 percent. Today’s bullish performance is mainly attributable to buying interest in Dangote Cement (+1.2 percent) as well as International Breweries (+4.8 percent) and ETI (+2.9 percent). Activity level was mixed as volume traded rose 35.3 percent to 388.3 million units while value traded fell 14.3 percent to N4.2 billion. The top traded stocks for the day by volume were Sovereigns Trust Insurance (82.5 million), Zenith Bank (50.0 million) and Skye Bank (37.5 million) while the top traded stocks by value were Flour Mills of Nigeria (N1.2 billion), Zenith Bank (N1.2 billion) and Guaranty Trust Bank (N361.3 million).
Sector performance was mixed as 3 of the 5 indices under our coverage closed southwards while 2 appreciated. The Industrial Goods index led gainers, up 2.8 percent on account of gains in Dangote Cement (+1.2 percent) and Lafarge Africa (+3.4 percent), while the Consumer Goods index gained 0.6 percent on account of price appreciation in International Breweries (+4.8 percent), Dangote Sugar (+2.6 percent) and Nigerian Breweries (+0.2 percent). On the flipside, the Banking index lost 1.5 percent as sell pressures in UBA (-6.8 percent), Zenith Bank (-2.0 percent) and Guaranty Trust Bank (-1.2 percent) dragged the index lower. The Insurance Index trailed, shedding 0.1 percent as losses in AIICO Insurance (-4.3 percent) and LASACO Assurance (-4.9 percent) dragged performance. Lastly, the Oil & Gas index declined 6bps following sell-offs in Forte Oil (-3.5 percent), Eterna (-4.6 percent) and Total Nigeria (-1.2 percent erasing gains in 11 Plc (+5.0 percent).
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) stayed flat at 0.6x consequent on 16 stocks advancing against 26 decliners. The top performing stocks today were Japaul Oil (+8.2 percent), 11 Plc (+5.0 percent) and Sterling Bank (+5.0 percent) while UBA (-6.8 percent), Wema Bank (-4.9 percent) and LASACO Assurance (-4.9 percent) led the laggards for the day.