Culled—-Proshare
March 2, 2018/FDC
The NSE-All Share Index (NSE ASI) maintained its bearish trend in the review period, as the market lost 0.72% to close at 42,299.56 from the 15th of February’s close of 42,604.04. The YTD return on the index increased to 11%.
Market capitalization moved in tandem with the NSE-ASI as it lost 0.72% to close at N15.18trn, losing N109.4bn during the review period. The stock market is currently trading at a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.90x, a 0.64% dip compared to its close of 13.99x as at 15th of January 2018. Although the market lost during the review period, the market recorded 5 days of gains and 2 days of losses.
Furthermore, the number of losers (61) outpaced the number of gainers (27) while 84 stocks re-mained unchanged. This resulted in a negative market breadth of 0.44x.
Trading activity on the bourse slowed in the period compared to the first half of the month. Average volume trade d fell by 31.81% to 457 million units. However, the average value of transactions during the period increased by 18.49% to N5.51bn compared to N4.65bn in the previous period.
SECTOR PERFORMANCE
In the review period, two out of six NSE sectorial indices closed positive, with the insurance sub-index performing the best, gaining 1.58%. The boost in the insurance sector was driven by significant gains recorded by Nascon Allied Industries Plc (10.00%), Aiico Insurance Plc. (8.57%), and Continental Reinsurance Plc (4.73%). However, the oil and gas sub-index performed the least, losing 3.44%. The bearish sentiment in the global oil market was driven primarily by the strengthening of the US dollar from a three-year low and the rise in US crude production. Additionally, the decline can be attributed to losses recorded by oil players. The banking sub sector recorded a marginal loss, declining by 0.02% during the review period. This was driven primarily by profit taking activities on high priced stocks in the sector.
The best performing stocks were JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC (38.89%), LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC (14.58%), FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC (13.51%), NAS-CON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC. 10.00% and RED STAR EXPRESS PLC (9.57%).
Top price losers were COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC (-30.95%), UNIC DI-VERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC (-26.47%), WEMA BANK PLC (-19.20%), DIAMOND BANK PLC (-18.28%) and STERLING BANK PLC (-16.67%).
Outlook
We expect the price correction to persist in the short term weighing on the NSE-ASI perform-ance. Furthermore, trading activities on the exchange are likely to be volatile in the near term as Corporates release mixed results for FY’17.
Above analysis provided by Financial Derivatives Company Limited.