Nigerian stock market upbeat, as investors gain N58bn

Trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed on a positive note on Tuesday to sustain the bullish run as market capitalisation rose by N58.2 billion to peak at N11.8 trillion

The All Share Index (ASI) similarly recorded  49 basis point (bps) growth to close at 22,727.87 points following gains in Guaranty Trust Bank(+5.0%), Zenith (+4.5%) and Nestle (+1.1%) stocks, amongst others.

Consequently, Year to date (YTD) loss moderated to -15.3%. Activity level rose as value and volume traded climbed  151.4% and 106.7% respectively as N2.8bn exchange hands for 266.6 million units of shares

The most active stocks by volume were UBA (48.8m units), FBNH (39.1m units) and Access bank (34.1m units). Nestle (N538.5m), Zenith (N395.1m) and GTB (N391.7m) led the value chart.

Analysis of the sector’s performance indicated a bullish trend as three out of the six indices under review closed positive. The Banking and Insurance indices appreciated 2.8 percent and 0.5 percent respectively due gains in Zenith (+4.5%), GTB (+5.0%), Lasaco (+7.7%) and cornerstone (+9.3%).  Similarly, the Consumer Goods index rose 0.5% on the back of bargain hunting in Nestle (+1.1%) and Dangote sugar (+3.8%).

Conversely, the Oil & Gas and Industrial Goods indices fell 0.2% apiece, following selloffs in Oando (-1.7%) and WapCO (-2.2%). Lastly, the AFR-ICT index closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth rose to 1.7x from the 0.6x recorded in the previous day’s trading session as 17 stocks gained relative to the 10 that recorded losses.

The top gainers were Cornerstone (+9.3%), Lasaco (+7.7%) and FCMB (+6.3%) while Wapic (-7.4%), Afriprud (-5.9%) and Caverton (-4.8%) were the top losers.

Market analysts expect investors to continue to take position in fundamentally sound stocks in the near term the market also received the results of Fidelity Bank Plc (Unaudited Q1:2020 Result): which saw Gross Earnings grew 5.7 percent year on year ( Y-o-Y) to N51.2bn from N48.4bn in Q1:2019 while profit Afer tax ( PAT) declined by 1.3 percent  Y-o-Y to N5.8bn from N5.9bn in Q1:2019.

Similarly, Okomu Oil Palm Plc (Unaudited Q1:2020 Result) showed tha Revenue fell 7.0 percent  Y-o-Y to N18.7bn from N20.3bn in Q1:2019 while PAT declined by 40.3 per cent  Y-o-Y to N5.4bn from N8.2bn in Q1:2019.