NSE! Equities rebound with N14bn gain

Nigerian equities staged a modest recovery on Tuesday as investors stepped up bargain-hunting for value stocks in the influential sectors.

Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed a marginal gain of 0.10 per cent, equivalent to net capital gain of N14 billion. The modest gain nudged the average year-to-date return for Nigerian equities to 6.69 per cent.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based index that tracks share prices at the Exchange rose from its opening index of 40,763.93 points to close at 40,802.78 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also rose from its opening value of N14.725 trillion to close at N14.739 trillion.

With 26 advancers to 25 decliners, the overall market situation remained tight. Sectoral indices, though largely positive, still showed a running underlying selling sentiment. The NSE Oil & Gas Index rose by 0.8 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 0.7 per cent while the NSE Banking Index increased by 0.5 per cent. However, the NSE Industrial Goods Index and NSE Insurance Index declined by 0.4 per cent each.

Nigeria’s highest-priced stock-Nestle Nigeria led the advancers with a gain of N71.10 to close at N1,493.60. Forte Oil followed with a gain of N4 to close at N43.30. Zenith Bank rose by 70 kobo to close at N27.90. Dangote Sugar Refinery added 45 kobo to close at N21 while Dangote Flour Mills chalked up 35 kobo to close at N13.70 per share.

On the downside, Nigerian Breweries led the decliners with a drop of N4.70 to close at N125. Conoil followed with a drop of N1.65 to close at N31.80. Julius Berger Nigeria declined by N1.35 to close at N25.65. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria dropped by N1.20 to close at N23.30 while Stanbic IBTC Holdings declined by N1.10 to close at N48.90 per share.

Read also: NSE! Equities reopen on downtrend with N18bn loss

The momentum of activities also slowed down as turnover volume and value declined by 53.5 per cent and 58.6 per cent respectively. Turnover stood at 246.58 million shares valued at N3.22 billion in 4,918 deals. Transnational Corporation was the most active stock with a turnover of 35.38 million shares worth N66.22 million. Zenith Bank followed with a turnover of 24.57 million shares valued at N682.21 million while Caverton Offshore Support Group placed third with 19.63 million shares worth N52.35 million.

Sectoral breakdown showed that the financial services sector led the activity chart with 135.93 million shares valued at N2.28 billion while the conglomerates sector followed with 36.69 million shares worth N88 million.

“In near term, first quarter 2018 earnings is expected to be the driver of market performance,” SCM Capital stated.

“In line with our expectation, the market performed positively today driven by investor reaction to positive first quarter 2018 results. In the near term, we expect first quarter 2018 earnings to drive market performance,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

 

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