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NSE LIVE! Equities break downtrend amidst bargain-hunting

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In from Success Allantee …
After losing N571 billion in the first three trading sessions of this week, the Nigerian stock market on Thursday staged a mild recovery as bargain-hunting transactions within the highly capitalised stocks group helped the market to a modest gain of N29 billion.
The All Share Index (ASI), the composite value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), broke away from the recent losing streak with a modest gain of 0.30 per cent to close at 28,221.75 points as against its opening index of 28,137.65 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also rose marginally by N29 billion from N9.670 trillion to close at N9.699 trillion. The modest recovery moderated the negative average year-to-date return from -18-81 per cent on Wednesday to -18.57 per cent on Thursday.
The selling sentiments meanwhile remained widespread in the background with more losers than gainers. Market pundits said the tepid recovery still underlined the susceptibility of the market to another round of declines, citing unmatched volumes on the supply.
“The change in the market mood today can be attributed to renewed optimism in the some largely capitalized stocks trading at attractive prices. We acknowledge that this swing in the ASI is largely driven by bargain-hunting, hence we implore investors to continue to take position on value stocks with sound fundamentals,” Lagos-based securities firm, Afrinvest Securities, stated in a market review.
Several highly capitalised stocks headlined the gains yesterday, overwhelming losses by most other stocks. Guinness Nigeria, the second most capitalised brewer, topped the 20-stock gainers’ list with a gain of N5.49 to close at NN115.50. Mobil Oil Nigeria rose by N4.45 to close at N147.95. Julius Berger Nigeria added N1.85 to close at N43. Dangote Cement, the most capitalised stock on the Exchange, rose by 87 kobo to close at N166.02. Guaranty Trust Bank, the most capitalised banking financial services stock in Nigeria, gathered 70 kobo to close at N20.70. Vitafoam Nigeria chalked up 40 kobo to close at N6.15. Dangote Sugar Refinery rose by 26 kobo to close at N6.60. Skye Bank added 19 kobo to close at N2.13. FBN Holdings rose by 17 kobo to close at N5.40 while Diamond Bank added 13 kobo to close at N2.89 per share.
On the other hand, Total Nigeria led the 31-stock losers’ list with a loss of N4.38 to close at N142.50. Flour Mills of Nigeria dropped by N2.56 to close at N23.76. PZ Cussons Nigeria lost N2.24 to close at N20.87. CAP dropped by N1.95 to close at N37.05. International Breweries declined by 83 kobo to close at N16.17 per share. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated lost 48 kobo to close at N17.40. Seven-Up Bottling Company declined by 45 kobo to close at N190.05. University Press dropped by 28 kobo to close at N5.45 while Honeywell Flour Mills declined by 23 kobo to close at N2.27 per share.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities’ return worsens to -18.81% on N230b loss

Turnover was on the average with the exchange of 333.21 million shares worth N2.81 billion in 4,449 deals. Financial services stocks accounted for 196.64 million shares worth N830.8 million in 1,719 deals. Zenith Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 59.52 million shares valued at N824.09 million in 377 deals. United Bank for Africa followed with a turnover of 52.5 million shares worth N157.44 million in 298 deals. Skye Bank placed third with a turnover of 44.01 million shares valued at N91.14 million in 198 deals.

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