Bargain hunting in stocks as WAPCO gains +13.27% w/w

• The market rebound was driven by bargain hunting in select stocks, (industrial and banking) notably, WAPCO (+13.27% w/w), ZENITHBANK (+4.78% w/w), UBA (+4.17% w/w) and ACCESSCORP (+3.47% w/w), which offset profit-taking in DANGCEM (-1.73% w/w), TRANSCORP (-7.24% w/w), STANBIC (-1.95% w/w), and FIRSTHOLDCO (-2.17% w/w).
• The Nigerian stocks halted its four-week losing streak, as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) advanced 1.13% w/w, to close 140,545.69 points. Consequently, the year-to-date return improved to 36.55% from 35.03% recorded in the previous week. Market capitalisation also appreciated by N985.24bn w/w (+1.12% w/w), settling at N88.92trn.
• Sectoral performance was overall positive, led by the Insurance Index (+2.45% w/w) and Oil & Gas Index (+2.38% w/w). The Banking (1.68% w/w), Industrial (1.13% w/w), and Consumer Goods (0.98% w/w) indices also posted gains, reflecting the broad-based investor interest across sectors.
• The market closed weaker in today’s session, with the NGX ASI and market capitalisation down 0.09%. Trading activity strengthened despite the decline, as transaction volume and value rose by 14.95% and 30.29%, respectively. NSLTECH (-2.27%) dominated the transaction volume chart with 71.44mn units traded, while ARADEL led the value terms with trades worth N8.79bn.
• Market breadth closed positive at 1.55x, reflecting more advancers than decliners. REGALINS (+9.93%) led the thirty-one (31) gainers, while MBENEFIT (-7.80%) topped the twenty (20) laggards, with the rest of the stocks closing flat.

NASD Unlisted Securities and Stocks Summary

• The NASD OTC Securities Index (NSI) and market capitalisation rose by 0.23% w/w, closing at 3,573.54 points and N2.14trn, respectively.
• The market closed lower today, declining by 0.52%. However, market activity improved significantly, as transaction volume surged by 1,592.43% while value of trades advanced by 8.31%.
• SDFCWAMCO (-1.76%) topped the market laggards with no advancers recorded in today’s session.