Nigerian equities sustain rally as broad-based gains across sectors push index up 1.3%

Nigerian stocks sustained previous trades positive momentum Tuesday as the All Share Index rose 1.3 percent to close at 40,362.97 points while year-to-date gain expanded to 5.5 percent.

Market capitalization equally gained N182.7 billion to settle at N14.4 trillion.

The day’s performance was largely buoyed by a broad-based rally across sectors, with DANGCEM (+1.4%), ZENITH (+4.9%) and GUARANTY (+2.2%) being the main drivers.

However, activity level was mixed as volume traded inched 27.5 percent higher to 770.9 million units while value traded dipped 51.2 percent to N7.9 billion.

Investors concentrated their stakes in the shares of Diamond Bank Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) and First City Monument Bank Plc as the three were the most active in terms of volume of shares traded. However, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Zenith Bank Plc topped market value list.
Sector performance was largely bullish as all indices save the consumer goods, which shed 0.3 p[ercent following price depreciation in NESTLE (-3.3%), closed in the green.

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On the flip side, the banking index appreciated the most, up 2.3 percent on the back of sustained interest in ZENITH (+4.9%), GUARANTY (+2.2%) and ACCESS (+4.2%). The oil & gas index trailed, rising 1.2 percent on account of upticks in CONOIL (+5.0%) and MOBIL (+0.8%). Similarly, the insurance and industrial goods indices rose 0.7 percent apiece as WAPIC (+7.4%), LINKASSURE (+2.6%) and DANGCEM (+1.4%) closed higher.

Market breadth (advance/ decline ratio) – strengthened to 6.7x from 4.1x recorded in the previous session as 47 stocks advanced against 7 that declined.

The day’s best performing stocks were DANGFLOUR (+10.0%), FCMB (+9.0%) and WAPIC (+7.4%) while the worst UAC-PROP (-4.7%), NAHCO (-4.7%) and NESTLE (-3.3%) declined the most.

Following the four consecutive days of appreciation, analysts at Afrinvest are predicting a slowdown to the New Year rally with a possibility of profit taking at some point during the week.

“We do not rule out the possibility of some profit taking later in the week. Nevertheless, as investor sentiment waxes stronger, our near-term outlook on the market remains positive,” they said.