NSE LIVE! Equities halt downtrend with N53b gain

Nigerian equities recovered from its recent losing streak on Wednesday as investors intensified bargain-hunting ahead of the third quarter earnings of quoted companies.

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc on Wednesday heralded the third quarter earnings with a notice that it has scheduled an October 18, 2017 meeting to consider its third quarter earnings.

With more advancers with decliners, benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated average gain of 0.44 per cent, equivalent to net capital gain of N53 billion. The average year-to-date return thus trended upward to 30.62 per cent.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks share prices at NSE, rose from its opening index of 34,951.27 points to close at 35,103.40 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also rose from its opening value of N12.048 trillion to close at N12.101 trillion.

Read also: Shareholders kick as Lafarge Africa moves to raise N131bn, mulls merger

The market performance was driven largely by highly capitalised stocks, especially Dangote Cement, the market’s most capitalised company, which rallied against underlying sell sentiments. The NSE Industrial Goods Index rose by 0.8 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index followed with a gain of 0.7 per cent. However, the NSE Oil & Gas Index dropped by 0.3 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index and NSE Banking Index dipped by 0.2 per cent each.

There were 24 advancers to 22 decliners. Nestle Nigeria led the advancers with a gain of N4.76 to close at N1,210.06. Dangote Cement followed with a gain of N4 to close at N210. Zenith Bank rose by 39 kobo to close at N22.51. International Breweries chalked up 32 kobo to close at N36 while Stanbic IBTC Holdings added 25 kobo to close at N39.75 per share.

On the negative side, Mobil Oil Nigeria led the decliners with a loss of N2.01 to close at N167.99. Nigerian Breweries followed with a loss of N1.50 to close at N165.50. Guaranty Trust Bank lost 40 kobo to close at N39.20. Lafarge Africa dipped by 24 kobo to close at N49.78 while PZ Cussons Nigeria declined by 22 kobo to close at N25.

Total turnover slowed down below average to 136.40 million shares worth N1.27 billion in 2.860 deals. Jaiz Bank led the activity chart with 35.85 million shares valued at N26.1 million. Meyer Paints followed with 20.01 million shares worth N14.01 million. FBN Holdings traded 6.69 million shares valued at N36.78 billion. Diamond Bank traded 5.43 million shares valued at N6.04 million while Access Bank recorded 4.88 million shares worth N46.2 million.

“Despite the rebound in ASI, we note that market breadth is yet to comfortable crossover to the positive territory. The low level of activity as shown in weaker volume and value traded further suggests sentiment for equities remains low; thus, we expect the market to trade sideways in subsequent sessions pending the release of third quarter earnings,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

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