Nigeria’s equity gains N47.8bn: 16th Feb 2015

NSE ASI up 52bps
After seven days of consecutive losses on the Nigerian bourse, the All Share Index gained 52bps today to close at 27,728.63bps. Also, market capitalisation added N47.8bn to close at N9.3tn. Today’s gain was as a result of price appreciation in bellwether stocks – Dangote Cement (1.5%), Zenith (3.4%) and GTBank (2.4%). Similarly, market activities measured by volume and value traded advanced today by 1.4% and 0.1% to berth at 513.9m units and N7.1bn respectively.

Mixed Sector Performances
Relative to the lacklustre performance recorded the previous week, performance of NSE sector indices improved today, although results were mixed as the Oil & Gas index led sector gainers with 1.9% on the back of gains recorded in Forte Oil (3.7%) and SEPLAT (4.9%). The Banking index also gained with 0.5% – driven by the price appreciation in Zenith (3.4%) and GTBank (2.4%). The Industrial Goods sector followed closely behind with a daily gain of 0.4% while the Consumer Goods and Insurance indices lost 0.6% and 0.3% respectively.

Negative Sentiments Persists
Market breadth closed negative at 0.8x (20 advancers vs. 26 decliners). Though negative, today’s sentiment is an improvement on the previous close of 0.5x. Topping the price gainers’ chart with 5.0% appreciation were NASCON, CCNN and Ikeja Hotel whereas UAC Prop (9.6%), Champion Breweries (9.6%) and Honey Flour (9.5%) led today’s laggards. Today’s trading session indicates that the market is taking a breather as investors positioned in bargain blue chip counters trading below support line. As stocks continue to reveal attractive prices with good entry points for investors, cautious trading is advised as macroeconomic fundamentals remain weak.

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