Nigeria Equity Watch | 06 Aug 2015 : Nigerian All Share Index Softens Gains…NSE ASI up 29bps

Lagos, Nigeria (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Nigerian Equity market extended appreciation to the fourth session as the NSE ASI gained 0.3% to 31,495.73pts. Bullish sentiments on NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+6.0%), PZ (+10.0%), TRANSCORP (+9.8%) and DANGCEM (+0.3%) largely drove the positive close. Similarly, market capitalization gained N39.5bn to N10.8tn as 4,402 deals were made. Market activity improved as volume rose 58.3% to 532.3m units while value jumped 75.5% to N5.3bn.

Performance across sectors was mixed today. The Consumer Goods index gained the most against the backdrop of NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+6.0%), PZ (+10.0%) and DANGFLOUR (+3.3%). The Industrial Goods index also improved 0.1% as DANGCEM had gained 0.3% at the close of trade. On the flipside, the Banking index declined 1.6% on price depreciation in GUARANTY (-1.4%), ETI (-2.9%) and UBN (-4.7%). In like manner, the Oil & Gas index lost 1.0% as a result of decline in OANDO (-3.6%) and FORTE OIL (-1.5%). However, the performance of the Insurance Index was flat.

Market sentiment was however weak as market breadth (advancers/decliners ratio) berthed at 0.7x; 19 stocks advanced while 28 stocks declined. Top gainers were PZ (+10.0%), TRANSCORP (+9.8%) and EVANSMED (+9.5%) while top losers were FLOURMILL (-5.0%), PREMBREW (-4.9%) and HONYFLOUR (-4.7%). Although positive sentiments continue to pervade the equities market in the interim, we reckon that speculators may begin to take profit. Thus, we advise investors to continue to tread cautiously.
Source: Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited Research Team