Nigeria Market Watch | May 11th 2015: Nigerian Equities Extend Bearish Run

The Nigerian Equities Market opened the week on a bearish note as the All Share Index (ASI) extended its bearish run to the sixth day. The ASI dipped 13bps to close at 34,342.07 points while market capitalization also shed 0.1% to N11.7tn. Today’s performance was amidst sell pressure in some banking stocks – UNITY (-9.5%) and ZENITH (-1.4%) – and profit-taking in ETI (-5.0%). Sell pressure dragged the ASI down to 34,213.25 points at Mid-day trades, but a late rally in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+2.2%) boosted the daily performance of the ASI. Market activity was however mixed as aggregate volume traded declined 0.5% to 207.3m units, while aggregate value rose 3.4% to N2.4bn.

Oil & Gas Index Tops Sector Losers
The Oil & Gas index led losses amongst the NSE sector indices shedding 1.3%, pressured by sell-off in FORTE OIL (-5.5%). The Banking Index trailed as it declined by 1.0% on the back of the weak performance of sector bellwethers – ZENITH (-1.4%) and ETI (-5.0%); while the Insurance Index also declined 0.5%. However, the Consumer Goods index rebounded from a 4-day losing streak today, closing 0.8% stronger, buoyed by the late rally in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+2.2%) while the Industrial Goods index traded 2bps northwards.

Market Sentiment Swings Positive

Market breadth measured by advancer/decliner ratio stayed positive at 1.4x (26 advancers versus 18 decliners) signaling improved sentiments. CI LEASING (+9.1%), JBERGER (+5.0%), CAVERTON (+4.9%), REDSTAREX (+4.9%) and NASCON (+4.8%) led the 26 advancers while UNITYBNK (-9.5%), FIDELITYBK (-6.2%), ETI (-5.0%), SKYEBANK (-4.8%), AIRSERVICE (-4.3%) topped the losers’ chart. Whilst most investors remained on the sideline ahead of fiscal policy direction of the incoming administration and a clearer monetary policy framework (regarding foreign exchange), we believe current valuation presents an upside potential for discerning investors.

 
Source: Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited Research Team.