The Nigerian stock market gained more than 1 per cent during the day hitting nine-year high, before edging down as some investors chose to lock in their profits. Stocks have gained strongly in January, extending 2017’s 43 per cent rise. The rally has taken the index up 12.55 per cent since the start of the year. Some see Friday’s late fall as temporary. “I expect the market to remain net positive from now till March when earnings seasons begin as investors position for dividend yield and capital appreciation,” said an Africa equity sales analyst at a Nigerian stockbroker.
Twenty-nine companies were up at the close of trade, down from 46 that were ahead mid-session, as investor sentiment waned. Banks’ stocks led the decline. The index of Nigeria’s top 10 banks shed 2.23 per cent. Flour Mills of Nigeria, which plans to start marketing from January 15 to raise N39.86 billion in fresh equity, fell 5 per cent, while Zenith Bank declined the most, sliding 5.3 per cent.
Against the backdrop of rising oil prices and strong portfolio flows, the uptrend in market performance from the prior week was sustained this week as the All Share Index (ASI) closed in the green on all trading sessions save for Friday. Thus, the ASI gained 10.2 per cent week on week to settle at 42,898.90 points while year to date return expanded to 12.2 per cent.
Consequently, investors gained a total of N1.5 trillion in value as market capitalisation closed at N15.4 trillion. In the same vein, activity level strengthened as average volume and value traded rose 66.2 per cent and 193.3 per cent week on week to 1.0 billion units and N13.8 billion respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were TRANSCORP (648.6m), DIAMOND (588.7m) and ACCESS (273.5m) while NIGERIAN BREWERIES (N17.6bn), ZENITH (N8.3bn) and DANGCEM (N4.9bn) were the top traded stocks by value.
The week started off on a positive note, with the ASI advancing 2.4 per cent, buoyed by a broad-based rally across sectors though market bellwethers- DANGCEM (+5.0%), GUARANTY (+2.3%) and ZENITH (+2.5%) drove performance. The positive momentum was sustained till Thursday as market capitalisation reached an all time high of N15.3tn while the ASI rose to a 10-year high of 43,041 points. The bullish run was halted on Friday as profit taking by investors dragged the ASI 0.3 per cent southwards.
In line with the bullish performance, sector performance was broadly positive as all indices advanced week on week. The Industrial Goods index led the gainers chart, up 13.0 per cent week on week consequent on price appreciation in WAPCO (+13.8%) and DANGCEM (+12.9). The Banking and Oil & Gas indices followed, adding 12.9 per cent and 7.5 per cent week on week as GUARANTY (+14.0%), ZENITH (+12.0%), CONOIL (+34.0), and SEPLAT (+3.8%) recorded sustained buying interest. Similarly, the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices closed 6.5 per cent and 5.6 per cent northwards on the back of a rally in LINKASSURE (+15.4), MANSARD (+14.2%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+9.4%) and GUINNESS (+14.0%).
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) significantly improved to 9.0x from 5.4x recorded the previous Friday as 63 stocks advanced against 7 decliners. The top performers this week were HONYFLOUR (+39.7%), SKYE (+37.7%), and CHAMPION (+36.6%) while MEYER (-12.9%), GLAXOSMITH (-2.7%) and DANGSUGAR (-2.7%) were the worst performers. As the benchmark index halted a 6-day bullish streak today, we envisage some profit taking in early trades next week. Nevertheless, we maintain our near term positive outlook on market performance. In the NASD OTC Securities Exchange, total volume traded today was 29,329 units while total value traded was N3.1m. The SDNDEP was the top traded security by volume and value.
Market Statistics Friday, 12th January 2018
Market Cap (N’bn) 15,368.5.
Market Cap (US$’bn) 50.2
NSE All-Share Index 42,898.90
Daily Performance % (0.3)
Week Performance % 10.2
YTD Performance % 12.2
Daily Volume (Million) 1,394.8
Daily Value (N’bn) 14.2
Daily Value (US$’m) 46.5
