September 26, 2019/InvestmentOne Report

Please click to download the Market Report for Thursday 26^th September 2019

 EQUITY:

·         The Nigerian equities market closed positive today as NSE-ASI gained 1.09% to close at 27,579.85pts.

·         Similarly, market breadth index was positive with 16 gainers against 7 losers.

·         Today’s performance was mainly due to the gains in  NESTLE (+10.00%), SEPLAT (+10.00%), TOTAL (+10.00%), CONTINSURE (+9.88%) and CORNEST (+9.52%) which offset the losses recorded in FO (-6.78%), HONYFLOUR (-5.94%), CUSTODIAN (-4.76%), CHAMS (-4.17%) and FIDELITYBK (-1.19%)

·         Sector performances were positive today. Oil & Gas (+5.70%) closed top gainer followed by Consumer Goods (+4.85%), Banking (+0.51%) and  Industrial(+0.02%).

·         In terms of activity levels, total volume and total value declined  by 61% and 63% respectively compared to yesterday as investors exchanged over 182million units of shares worth over N2.93billion. ACCESS (+6.94%) was the most actively traded stock with just over 67million units of shares worth about N510million.

·         The equities market closed up today following the gains recorded across all sectors. We maintain that investors should take positions in quality names with a medium to long time investment horizon as prices remain attractive at current levels.

CURRENCY:

·         At the IEFX window, while the Naira lost 0.08% against the USD to close N362.29, it gained 0.57% against both the GBP and EUR to close at N445.58 and N394.75 respectively.

·         At the parallel market, the Naira closed flat at N360, N397 and N454 against USD, EUR and GBP respectively.

·         Going forward, we expect the FX market to continue to see support from CBN’s intervention sales. 

FIXED INCOME:

·         Money market rates increased today as Open Buy Back and Overnight rates were up by 271bps and 293bps to close at 6.43% and 7.43% respectively. The increase in rates may have been due to the OMO auction conducted today.

·         In the OMO auction conducted today, the apex bank sold a total of N302.4billion, split into the 84-day, 184-day and 364-day bills, at the respective stop rates of 11.59%, 11.79% and 13.48%.

·         The bond market performance was relatively neutral today as yields moved in different directions across most maturities. The yields on the 5yr, 7yr and 10yr benchmark bonds closed flat to close at 14.07%, 14.33% and 14.36% respectively.

·         In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation. 

Below are key NSE statistics as at the end of trades: