Buy interest in Zenith, PZ, Dangote Sugar lifts Nigerian equities by 0.24% as global bourses trade slightly higher

The Nigerian local bourse opened the week Monday bullish on account of buy interest in Zenith, PZ and Dangote Sugar as market all-share Index (ASI) gained 24bps (0.24%) to close at 36,792.60 points. while year-to-date return expanded to 36.9 percent.

As a result, year-to-date gain expanded to 36.9 percent, while market capitalisation gained N30.9 billion to settle at N12.8 trillion.

The day’s performance was driven primarily by buying interest in ZENITH (+3.6%), PZ (+10.2%) and DANGSUGAR (+4.3%). However, activity level declined as volume and value traded fell 88.6 percent and 61.1 percent to 208.7 million units and N2.5 billion respectively.

Performance across sectors was broadly positive as three of five indices closed northwards, one declined while the other closed flat.

The banking and consumer goods indices rose 0.5 percent apiece on the back of price appreciations in ZENITH (+3.6%), UBA (+0.2%), PZ (+10.2%) and NESTLE (+0.4%).

Similarly, the insurance index gained, inching 0.4 percent higher due to buying interest in NEM (+4.5%) and LINKASSURE (+3.6%). On the flip side, the oil & gas index was the lone loser, down 1.1 percent primarily due to losses in FORTE (-9.7%). The industrial goods index closed the day flat.

Investor sentiment, measured by market breadth (advancers/decliners’ ratio), stayed positive at 1.2x – albeit moderating from 1.9x recorded previously Friday – as 17 stocks advanced against 14 stocks that declined.

Top three performers were PZ (+10.2%), NASCON (+9.6%) and ETERNA (+4.8%) while FORTE (-9.7%), LAWUNION (-4.6%) and UNITY (-3.8%) were the worst three performers.

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The day’s positive performance, according to analysts can be largely attributed to investors taking position in previous decliners and they expect this to continue in subsequent trading sessions.

U.S. stocks traded slightly higher Monday as Wall Street awaited more details on a tax overhaul that would slash corporate taxes.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 77 points, with IBM as the best-performing stock in the index. The stock rose after Barron’s said IBM could gain more than 30 percent over the next 12 months.

The S&P 500 gained 0.1 percent, with telecommunications as the best-performing sector. Delphi Automotive was the best-performing stock in the index, rising 3.1 percent after analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded it to buy from neutral.

The Nasdaq composite also gained 0.1 percent.

In Europe bourses picked up the pace Monday afternoon, however gains were somewhat capped as political instability in Germany continued to rattle sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.6 percent higher in afternoon deals, with most sectors moving into the black. All major bourses were trading higher, however the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was lagging behind the likes of France and Germany.

Market sentiment in Europe remained relatively unchanged after the U.S. open, as markets overseas began the day on a relatively flat note.