Bourse exudes positive sentiment as most sectors record gains
Market extend bullish streak, 4th consecutive week of gains Investors expect corporate earnings releases to dictate market performance
Positive sentiment spread through the bourse as all the sectors recorded gains at the end of the week, except for the insurance sector.
The equities market sustained the previous week’s positive performance as the All-Share Index rose 0.86 per cent week on week to 26,659.45 points due to buying interest in Zenith Bank (+7.8%), Total Plc (+10.0%) and Wapco Plc (+10.9%). Similarly, market capitalisation rose by N127.6 billion to N15 trillion while the year till date (YTD) return improved to 6.8 per cent.
Activity level fell as average volume and value traded declined 37.7 per cent and 34.8 per cent to 390.9 million units and N4.6 billion respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were United Bank for Africa – UBA – (254.3 million units), Guaranty Trust Bank – GTB – (253.1 million units) and Regal Insurance (246.1 million units), while GTB (N7.6 billion), Zenith Bank (N3.7 billion) and UBA (N1.7 billion) led by value.
Performance across sectors was bullish as 4 of 6 indices gained week on week. Insurance and AFRICT indices were the outliers, down 0.7 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively as a result of sell pressures in Mansard Insurance (-5.7%), Custodian Insurance (-4.8%) and MTN (-0.4%). Conversely, the banking index led the pack, up 2.9 per cent following improved demand for Zenith (+7.8%) and UBA (+5.9%).
Similarly, the oil & gas and consumer goods indices gained 2.4 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively, following price accretion in Eterna Plc (+35.0%), Total Plc (+10.0%), International Breweries (+12.9%) and Cadbury Plc (+12.6%). Finally, buying interest in WAPCO (+3.9%) drove the industrial goods higher by 0.2 per cent week on week.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) fell to 1.8x from 4.0x last week as 35 stocks gained against the 20 that declined. Eterna Plc (+35.0%), International Breweries (+12.9%) and Cadbury Plc (+12.6%) led the top gainers while E-Tranzact (-26.4%), PORT (-12.6%) and Royal Express (-7.4%) led the decliners.