24th April, 2020

Bargain hunting in MTNN (+400bps), GUARANTY (+212bps) and ZENITHBANK (+108bps) saved the domestic bourse from another negative close, mitigating the impact of declines in ACCESS (-236bps), WAPCO (-171bps) and DANGCEM (-114bps) as the benchmark index (ASI) rose 57bps to 22,599.38 points. Activity level however closed mixed as the total volume traded advanced marginally by 4.99% while the total value traded declined 33.47% even as trades in GUARANTY, DANGCEM and ZENITHBANK dominated market turnover. However, the WTD performance closed negative at -1.41% (reversing the positive WoW close we saw in the last two weeks) as sell offs in the Banking (-5.24% WoW), Consumer goods (-2.64% WoW) and Oil & Gas (-1.68% WoW) sectors eroded gains in the Industrial goods (+0.71% WoW) and Insurance (+1.17% WoW) sectors. 

What will shape the market tomorrow? 

With the continued threat of the Coronavirus pandemic as well as the declining crude oil price to the macro-economic outlook, we expect the equities market to remain pressured in the short term, though current price levels remain good for mid/long term investors. We therefore expect a similar trading pattern next week, with some sessions filled with bargain hunting and sell offs in others.    

Reporting for EasyKobo on Friday , 24 April 2020 in Lagos, Nigeria

Source: Vetiva Capital Management Limited