Banking stocks drag Nigerian Stock market performance… ASI down 0.01%

Trading activities on the local bourse resumed the week negative with a 1bp marginal decline in the All-Share Index  to close at 22,920.41 points, due to sell pressures in ZENITH (-5.7%), GUARANTY (-4.3%) and MTNN (-1.5%). Consequently, market capitalisation fell ₦612.9m  to settle at ₦11.9tn while YTD loss stood at -14.6%. Activity level rose as volume and value traded increased  49.2% and 61.2% respectively to 345.4m units and ₦4.2bn. The most active stocks by volume were FBNH (115.3m units), GUARANTY (51.8m units) and TRANSCORP (33.4m units) while NESTLE (₦1.4bn), GUARANTY (₦1.1bn) and FBNH (₦538.1m) led the value chart.

Sector performance was Mixed as 3 of 6 indices under our coverage recorded gains. The  Industrial Goods index topped the gainers chart, advancing 4.8% following price appreciation in BUACEMENT (+8.5%). Likewise, the Consumer Goods and  Insurance indices rose 1.2% and 1.1%, buoyed by buying interest in Nigerian Breweries (+6.7%), NESTLE (+0.8%) and LINKASSURE (+10.0%) respectively. On the other hand, losses in ZENITH (-5.7%), GUARANTY (-4.3%) and MTN (-1.5%), dragged the Banking (-4.0%) and AFR-ICT indices (-0.8%) respectively. While sell pressures in OANDO (-4.6%) weighed on the Oil & Gas index, down 0.5%.  

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) declined to 0.9x from the 2.1x recorded in the previous session as 14 stocks advanced against 15 decliners. The top gainers were JBERGER (+10.0%), LINKASSRE (+10.0%) and BUACEMENT (+8.5%) while GUINNESS (-9.4%), PZ (-9.1%) and LIVESTOCK (-7.1%) led the laggards. Following the 7-day bullish streak in the equities market, we anticipate mixed trading activities this week.

Market Statistics for Monday, 20th April 2020 

Source: Afrinvest