The bullish run in the Nigerian bourse continued Thursday with the benchmark index, the NSEASI, rising 1.6 percent to settle at 39,042.11 points while month-to-date and year-to-date (YTD) return strengthened to 2.46 percent 2.1 percent respectively.
The market performance, which was buoyed by buy interest in DANGCEM (+4.0%), ETI (+4.5%) and STANBIC (+3.0%), edged market capitalization higher by N219.8 billion to N14.1 trillion.
Similarly, activity level increased as the volume and value traded improved by 25.2 percent and 14.2 percent to 492.0 million units and N7.6 billion respectively.
The day’s top traded stocks by volume were WAPIC (118.4m), GUARANTY (106.1m) and DIAMOND (33.7m) while GUARANTY (N4.5bn), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (N759.1m) and ZENITH (N416.0m) were the top traded stocks by value.
Sector performance was mixed as three of five major indices closed in the green. The industrial goods index topped the gainers chart for the third consecutive session, up 3.7 percent on account of gains in DANGCEM (+4.0%) and WAPCO (+4.7%).
The consumer goods and banking indices trailed, increasing 1.0 percent and 0.1 percent respectively due to buying interest in INTBREW (+3.8%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+1.0%), NASCON (+10.1%), ETI (+4.5%) and GUARANTY (+0.2%).
On the other hand, the insurance and oil & gas indices closed in the red, shedding 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent respectively following profit taking in CONTINSURE (-4.7%), CUSTODIAN (-0.4%), PRESTIGE (-4.2%), ETERNA (-5.0%) and SEPLAT (-0.7%).
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) weakened to 1.5x from 2.6x in the prior session as 29 stocks advanced in contrast to 19 stocks that declined.
The top performing stocks were NASCON (+10.1%), JAPAULOIL (+7.4%) and CADBURY (+4.8%) while ETERNA (-5.0%), CONTINSURE (-4.7%) and PRESTIGE (-4.2%) were the worst performing stocks.
Market analysts are of the opinion that gains are likely to extend on the bourse, as prices of value stocks remain relatively attractive, supported by still-positive macroeconomic fundamentals.
“We expect the market to close the week in the green as sustained bargain hunting by investors continues to keep performance upbeat,” say analysts at Afrinvest Research.
