Equity Market Report - 20 February, 2020

Equity Market Report - 20 February, 2020
(Source: Vetiva Research, Date: 20-Feb-2020)

Daily Equity Market Report,
20th February, 2020

From the trader's desk...
The ASI halted its bearish trend thanks to a late recovery in BUACEMENT (+300bps) as well as gains in UBN (+143bps) and UBA (+66bps). The index, which increased by 17bps to 27,568.91bps at market close was initially trading in the red (-67bps), courtesy of moderation in GUARANTY (-141bps) and ZENITHBANK (-51bps) among others. Meanwhile, as activity remained tilted to banking stocks (73.03% of total value traded), total volume traded increased by 67.16% while value traded decreased by 28.56%. Market breadth at the local bourse returned to the positive side, closing at 2.11x as 19 gainers emerged against 9 decliners.

For a breakdown of stock performances, please see the pricelist.

What will shape the market tomorrow?
The index was lifted by gains recorded in the Industrial sector, reducing the impact of losses in the Oil & Gas, Banking and Consumer goods sectors. However, having lost in three of the four sessions so far this week, the ASI is expected to close the week in the red though bargain hunting in some fundamentally sound stocks trading at lower bands is expected tomorrow.

Stocks to Watch
On the Bid Cart: UCAP trailed IKEJAHOTEL (+10.00%) and AIICO (+10.00%) as the third best performer for the day, gaining 994bps to close at its intra-day high price of ₦3.54. The counter enjoyed another session of capital appreciation due to the continued positive reaction to the better than expected dividend declaration. However, having gained over 20.00% since releasing its result, the bullish momentum is expected to wane as the divided yield becomes less attractive.

On the Offer Cart: LAWUNION continued to experience profit taking, shedding 10.00% of its value in today's session to close at ₦0.81. The counter has declined 33.61% in the last 6 sessions after trading its year high price of ₦1.22. However, with a YTD return of 62.00%, LAWUNION remains deep in the green in spite of the late bearish trend.