The week started on a bullish note as price appreciation in MTNN (+10.0%), UBA (+3.6%) and UACN (+7.8%) buoyed the broad index to 29,633.58 points, up 0.7%. Consequently, YTD return jumped to 10.4% while market capitalisation increased ₦112.6bn to ₦15.3tn. Activity level advanced as volume and value traded rose 24.0% and 77.5% respectively to 348.2m units and ₦8.5bn.
According to a report by Afrinvest Research, the most active stocks by volume were ACCESS (63.7m units), UBA (40.6m units) and ZENITH (39.5m units) while SEPLAT (₦2.6bn), MTNN (₦1.5bn) and ZENITH (₦861.1m) led by value.
Mixed Sector Performance
Sector performance ended mixed with the AFR-ICT index (+5.6%) gaining the most, following price appreciation in MTNN (+10.0%). The Insurance and Oil & Gas indices also inched higher by 0.3% and 0.1% due to gains in MANSARD (+2.4%), LASACO (+7.4%) and OANDO (+2.6%). Meanwhile, the Industrial Goods index lost 3.2% as sell-offs in WAPCO (-2.6%) dragged the index down. Also, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices pared 0.7% and 0.4% respectively following price depreciation in FBNH (-5.2%), GUARANTY (-1.4%), UNILEVER (-5.3%) and DANGSUGAR (-1.3%).
Investor Sentiment Strengthens
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) advanced to 0.7x from the 0.4x recorded in previous session as 16 stocks advanced relative to 21 laggards. The top performing stocks were MTNN (+10.0%), NPFMCRFBK (+9.7%) and UACN (+7.8%) while CADBURY (-10.0%), TRANSCOHOT (-9.2%) and NEIMETH (-8.9%) were the top losers. We expect the bullish run to persist as investors continue to show renewed interest in the market.
