Bulls trump bears as interests in BuaCem, Zenith, Access ramp up market cap to N20.4trn

By Charles Abuede

The bulls exerted their dominance over the Nigerian equity market Tuesday with the banking and industrial goods sectors driving the market to gain as stocks climbed higher in their first trading session after the Christmas break. The index was up 0.8 per cent to close at 39,110.17 points.

The performance was buoyed by strong demand for BUA Cement (+6.7%), Zenith Bank (+2.0%) and Access Bank (+4.1%) and the market year to date return increased to 45.7 per cent as market capitalisation advanced N167.6 billion to settle at N20.4 trillion from N20.3 trillion close at the last trading session.

Similarly, market activity level was mixed as volume traded rose 85.4 per cent to 722.6 million units while value traded dipped 45 per cent to N4.4 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were AIICO Insurance (273.1 million units), Oando Plc (81.4 million units) and FBN Holdings (41.1 million units), while Dangote Cement (N993.2 million), Zenith Bank (N742 million) and Access Bank (N353.3 million) led the value table.

There was a mixed performance across the six sectors as two sectors gained, three lost while the AFR-ICT indicator closed flat. The industrial goods and banking indices climbed 2.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively on the back of gains in BUA Cement (+6.7%), Cutix Plc (+2.3%) and Zenith Bank (+2.0%).

Conversely, the insurance index fell 0.8 per cent, underpinned by losses in AXA Mansard (-4.8%) and AIICO Insurance (-1.6%). Finally, the oil & gas and consumer goods indices declined 0.1 per cent apiece following sell-offs in Oando Plc (-0.6%), Flour Mills (-1.6%) and Guinness Plc (-1.0%).

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) fell to 0.9x from the 2.6x recorded previously as 18 stocks gained against 20 losers. Jaiz Bank (+10.0%), NEM (+9.6%) and Lasaco (+8.8%) were the best performing tickers while NCR (-9.7%), FTN Cocoa (-9.0%) and Transport Express Company (-8.9%) led the losers.

The NSE 30

The NSE 30 index increased by 0.99 per cent to close at 1,583.79 points as against 1,568.25 points close in the last session. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 177.81 million units. BUA Cement and Access Bank were the key gainers, while Flour Mills and Guinness were the key losers.

Foreign Exchange Market

In the FX street market, the naira depreciated by N5 to a dollar to trade at N470 per dollar from N465. At the importers’ and exporters’ (I&E) market, the domestic currency depreciated by 0.38 per cent as the dollar was quoted at N393.50 as against the last close of N392 with most participants maintaining bids of between N380.50 and N396 per dollar.

Treasury Bills market

The T-bills market was unchanged on Tuesday as trading activities resumed from the Christmas break. The quiet posture of the market reflected the flattish trades across the curve ahead of the N74.84 billion auction on Wednesday. Thus, the average yield in the market remained at 0.4 per cent. Average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed at 0.33 per cent, 0.32 per cent, and 0.45 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, at the Wednesday auction, the CBN will roll over all maturing bills, as it offers N10 billion, N20 billion and N44.84 billion for sale across the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day instruments.

Similar to the T-bills space, the OMO market also traded on a calm note leaving the average yield in the market steady at 0.5 per cent as the average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed at 0.41 per cent, 0.55 per cent, and 0.83 per cent, respectively.

Bond Market

In the Bond market, the bears dominated activities, selling the belly of the curve to offset bargain-hunting activities elsewhere. This saw the average bond yield trend 20 basis points higher to 6.1 per cent. Across the curve, the short end and the long end dipped by four basis points apiece, while the intermediate segment of the market soared by 63 basis points. The 26-Apr-2029 (+81bps) was the most-sold instrument.