The equities market opened the week positive as the All-Share Index rose 3bps due to price appreciation in GUARANTY (+0.4%), GUINNESS (+1.3%) and UNILEVER (+7.5%) to close at 25,229.12 points. Consequently, market capitalisation appreciated to ₦13.2tn as investors gained ₦3.8bn while YTD loss eased to -6.0%. Activity level improved as volume and value traded increased 58.4% and 34.6% to 251.2m units and ₦2.4bn respectively. The most active stocks by volume were TRANSCORP (75.1m units), ZENITH (45.6m units) and GUARANTY (12.9m units) while ZENITH (₦767.6m), PRESCO (₦588.2m) and GUARANTY (₦325.2m) led by value.
Performance across sectors was mixed as 2 indices under our coverage recorded gains, 2 lost while 2 closed flat. The Consumer Goods and Insurance indices closed positive, up 70bps and 82bps respectively owing to price upticks in UNILEVER (+7.5%) and CORNERSTONE (+8.6%). Conversely, losses in WAPCO (-1.2%) and UBA (-1.5%) dragged the Industrial Goods and Banking indices by 10bps and 1bp respectively. However, the AFR-ICT and Oil & Gas indices closed the session flat.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) fell to 1.0x from the 1.7x recorded previously as 15 stocks gained against the 15 that declined. The top gainers were UPL (+9.7%), UNITYBNK (+9.6%) and REGALINS (+9.1%) while TRANSCORP (-8.2%), ROYALEX (-7.7%) and JAIZBANK (-5.0%) lost the most. Given the successive positive runs, we anticipate profit-taking in subsequent trading days.
Market Statistics for Monday, 24th August 2020
| Market Cap (N’bn) | 13,161.8 |
| Market Cap (US$’bn) | 34.1 |
| NSE All-Share Index | 25,229.12 |
| Daily Performance % | 0.0 |
| WTD Performance % | 0.0 |
| MTD Performance % | 2.2 |
| QTD Performance % | 3.1 |
| YTD Performance % | (6.0) |
| Daily Volume (Million) | 251.2 |
| Daily Value (N’bn) | 2.4 |
| Daily Value (US$’m) | 6.1 |
Source: Afrinvest
