Equities market ASI up 1.9% amid buying interest in NESTLE, DANGCEM U shares

The equities market of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited reversed the losses recorded since the beginning of the week, as buying interest in NESTLE (+6.4%), DANGCEM (+6.5%), and PRESCO (+5.5%) drove the All-Share Index to appreciate by 1.9 per cent to 39,592.29 points.

Accordingly, YTD loss improved to -1.7 per cent while market capitalisation increased by N382.1billion to N20.6trillion. Trading activity was mixed as volume traded fell 9.9 per cent to 474.4muillion units while value traded rose 31.6 per cent to N4.0billion.

The most traded stocks by volume were FBNH (264.7m units), UNIVINSURE (76.7m units), and MANSARD (13.1m units) while FBNH N2.1billion, NESTLE N412.8million, and DANGCEM N307.3million led by value.

Performance across the sectors under our coverage remained mixed as 3 indices gained, 2 lost, while the AFR-ICT index closed flat. Leading the gainers is the Industrial Goods index, up 3.6 per cent on the back of buying interest in DANGCEM (+6.5%) and WAPCO (+0.7%).

Trailing, the Consumer Goods and Banking indices rose 3.1 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively due to price uptick in NESTLE (+6.4%), UNILEVER (+2.3%), FBNH (+6.6%), and GTCO (+0.7%).

On the flip side, the Insurance and Oil & Gas indices recorded losses, down 2.0% and 0.2% respectively as a result of sell pressure on MANSARD (-10.0%), LASACO (-0.8%), and OANDO (-1.0%).

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 1.7x from 0.9x as 24 stocks advanced while 14 stocks declined. NNFM (+6.9%), FBNH (+6.6%), and DANGCEM (+6.5%) led the gainers while JBERGER (-10.0%), MANSARD (-10.0%), and VANLEER (-9.9%) led the laggards.

In the final trading session for the week, we anticipate an extension of this positive momentum as investors snap up bargains ahead of the weekend.