March 31, 2017/Investmentone Research
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- The Nigerian bourse ended the first quarter of 2017 on a negative note, as the All Share Index recorded a marginal decline of -0.07% , taking both QTD and YTD return to -5.05% while the index market capitalisation settled at N8.83trillion. On a m/m basis, the ASI returned +0.74% in March, the first positive m/m return in 2017.
- Today’s decline in the index was largely due to sell-off in NB (-92.34pts), GUARANTY (-38.56pts) and STANBIC (-6.41pts) which offset the gain in WAPCO (+50.21pts), UNILEVER (+16.63pts) and DANGSUGAR (+10.83pts).
- Market turnover strengthened with both volume and value traded up by +28% and +70% respectively to 337m units of stocks worth c.N4.02b. STACO and ZENITHBANK were the most actively traded stocks with over 100m and 69m units of stocks respectively.
- With +10.23% gain, WAPCO topped the gainers’ chart while MAYBAKER (-5.00%) led the laggard list.
- Performance of major sub-sector indexes was mixed as gain in Industrial (+4.36%) and Oil & Gas (+0.09%) trackers were countered by decline in Consumer (-0.87%) and Banking (-0.48%) trackers.
- Going into the new week, while we see the ASI remaining volatile on concern regarding the fragile macro environment and attractive return in the fixed income space, we expect opportunistic positioning by investors for dividend payment to provide some level of support for market performance. Hence, we advise investors to tread with caution while seeking decent entry point to build position in quality names over an extended investment horizon.
CURRENCY:
- At the interbank market, the NGN continued to close flat at N306 levels due to CBN’s continued intervention. Although the NGN gained +0.62% to N326.97 against the EUR, it lost -2.77% to N393.78 against the GBP.
- The NGN continued to depreciate at the parallel market today, falling -1.80% to N390 against the USD. While the NGN remained flat at N410 against the EUR, it shed -2.10% to N475 against the GBP.
- Going into the new week, we expect the performance of the local currency at the parallel market to be influenced by the USD sales by CBN to BDCs.
FIXED INCOME:
- Although the 3month NIBOR rate declined by 46bps today, the 1month and 6month NIBOR rates increased by 27bps and 2bps to 16.72% and 23.28% respectively. We believe the expansion in the 1month and 6month NIBOR rates may not be unconnected with CBN conducting another OMO auction today, selling N25bn at 18.60% stop rate.
- In the bond market, yields remained relatively flat at the close of today’s session. While the yield on the June 2019 inched up 1bp to 15.80%, yield on the July 2034 was down 1bp to 15.61%. The yield on the 5yr, 7yr and 10yr benchmark bonds were flat at 15.64%, 15.62% and 15.98% respectively.
- While there are no OMO maturities next week, we expect CBN to keep system liquidity tight in defence of the local currency.
Below are key NSE statistics as at the end of trades:
Current | 25,516.34 | Mkt Cap (N’tr) | 8.83 | |
Previous | 25,533.82 | Vol. Traded (m) | 378 | |
Day Change | -0.07% | Vol. Day Chng. | 28% | |
WTD Return | 0.24% | Val. Traded (N’bn) | 4.02 | |
MTD Return | 0.74% | Val. Day Chng. | 70% | |
YTD Return | -5.05% | No. of Deals | 3,159 | |
YTD High | 26,616.89 | No. of Gainers | 19 | |
YTD Low | 24,581.99 | No. of Losers | 17 | |
52wk High | 31,071.25 | Top Sub Sect. (by Vol.) | BNK (57%) | |
52wk Low | 22,456.32 | Top Sub Sect. (by Val.) | BNK (36%) |
As at time of publishing, the NASD OTC pricelist for Friday 31st of March 2017 was not available.
