Nigerian bourse opens week higher on sustained bargain hunting in banking, technology stocks

• Investors see N299bn profit amid discounted valuation of stocks

With strong investor sentiment in the market, amid discounted valuation of stocks, the domestic equities market sustained positive performance on Monday as banking and technology stocks drove the benchmark index higher due to continued bargain hunting to give investors N299 billion in share trading profit.

Trading had resumed with sustained optimism as investors’ interest in MTN (+3.9%), Airtel Africa (+5.3%) and Zenith Bank (+5.3%) drove the index up by 2.1 per cent to close at 27,554.56 points. Consequently, investors gained N299 billion as market capitalisation advanced to N14.4 trillion  from N14.1 trillion the previous trading day, while the year to date (YTD) return rose to 2.7 per cent.

Similarly, the activity level in the market strengthened as volume and value traded spiked to 132 per cent and 158.6 per cent to 603.9 million units and N7.4 billion respectively. The most traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank  (204.7 million units), Sterling Bank  (55.2 million units) and United Bank for Africa  (51.3 million units),  while Zenith Bank (N3.8 billion), Guaranty Trust Bank (N1.1 billion) and United Bank for Africa (N328.8 million) led by value.

The market performance across sectors was impressive as all indices gained. The AFR-ICT and Banking indices gained the most, appreciating 4.5 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively, following buying interest in MTN Nigeria (+3.9%), Airtel Africa (+5.3%) and Zenith Bank (+5.3%). The insurance and oil & gas indices trailed, as bargain hunting in AIICO Insurance (+6.3%), ARDOVA (6.4%) and Seplat Petroleum (+2.5%), respectively drove a 2 per cent and 0.8 per cent gains in the indices. Likewise, the consumer and industrial goods indices inched up by 0.4 per cent apiece due to investors’ interest in Dangote Sugar (+2.3%), Guinness (+7.1%) and Wapco Plc(+5.6%).

In the same vein, investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved to 3.6x from the 1.9x recorded in the previous session as 36 stocks gained against 10 decliners. Red Star Express (+10.0%), GSK (+10.0%) and NPF Microfinance Bank (+9.6%) were top gainers while Tripple Gee (-10.0%), OANDO (-8.7%) and UAC-properties (-6.5%) led the laggards.

Meanwhile, the NSE 30 Index increased by 1.76 per cent to close at 1,176.63 points as against 1,156.24 points as on the previous day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 502.92 million units. Fidelity and Guinness were the key gainers, while UBN and Nigerian Breweries were the only losers.