Investors gain N73.2bn as equities sustain positive traction

Trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday ended in the green as gains in major stocks, including MTN Nigeria  (+2.4percent), FBNH (+3.4percent) and WAPCO (+2.7percent), shored up the market’s capitalization by N73.2 billion to N11.9 trillion, with year-to-date (YTD) loss easing to -14.8 percent.

The activity level in the bourse was mixed as volume traded advanced 4.0percent to 277.3m units while value traded declined 7.4percent to N2.5 billion.

The most active stocks by volume were FBNH (56.6m units), United Bank for Africa (52.8m units) and LASACO (23.9m units) while Guarantee Trust Bank (N470.4m), Dangote Cement (N374.4m) and Zenith Bank (N322.1m) led the value chart.

Across sectors, the performance was a bullish performance as 4 of 6 indices closed positive. Buying interest in MTNN (+2.4percent) and Ardova (+9.9percent) drove the AFR-ICT and Oil & Gas indices up 1.3percent and 0.4percent respectively.

Trailing, the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices advanced 0.4percent and 0.3percent respectively due to price appreciation in International Brewery (+4.4 percent) and WAPCO (+2.7percent). Similarly, gains in Access bank (+1.6percent) and FBNH (+3.4percent) drove the Banking index 0.2percent higher. Conversely, the Insurance index declined 0.2percent due to selloffs in Cornerstone (-6.8percent).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth weakened to 1.2x from the 1.7x recorded in the previous trading session as 14 stocks advanced relative to 12 decliners.

The best performers were Courtville (+10.0percent), Vitafoam (+10.0percent) and Ardova (+9.9percent) while Eterna (-9.6percent), UPL (-7.6percent) and Lasaco (-7.1percent) led the losers.

On corporate actions, Zenith Bank Plc’s unaudited Q1:2020 result indicated that the lender’s Gross Earnings grew 5.5percent Y-o-Y to N168.6bn from N158.1bn in Q1:2019 while Profit After Tax (PAT) declined by 1.3percent Y-o-Y to N5.8bn from N5.9bn in Q1:2019.

Also, Seplat Petroleum Development Plc’s unaudited Q1:2020 result showed that the revenue fell 13.3percent Y-o-Y to N42.4bn from N48.9bn in Q1, 2019 while PAT declined by 445.5percent Y-o-Y to -N34.6bn from N10.0bn in the quarter under review.