NSE LIVE! Equities maintain upswing amidst bargain-hunting

The upswing at the Nigerian stock market continued for the sixth consecutive trading session on Thursday as investors continued their scramble for companies with attractive valuation and high dividend yield. Dangote Cement, which had on Tuesday declared a N136.3b dividend, continued to lead the rally.

The benchmark index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the All Share Index (ASI)- a value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted companies, rallied a gain of 1.65 per cent to close at 25,816.29 points as against its opening index of 25,396.83 points.

With more than two gainers to every loser, aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose by N144 billion from N8.736 trillion to close at N8.880 trillion. The uptrend helped to pare down the negative overhang at the market with the average year-to-date return improving to -9.87 per cent.

Investors appeared to be shifting their bargain-hunting focus to the banking stocks as many banks prepare to release their audited report and accounts for the 2015 business year. Banking stocks occupied the top list on the activity chart.

Turnover was above recent average as more investors joined the bargain-hunting for stocks with prospects of high dividend yields. Against the background of the N8 per share dividend recommendation by the board of Dangote Cement on Tuesday, another recommendation of 43 kobo dividend per share by Africa Prudential Registrars (APR) on Thursday tickled the bulls. At the current market price of N2.98, APR carries a dividend yield of 14.4 per cent, which most analysts regarded as highly attractive. APR’s share price rose by 9.96 per cent, almost on the point of the 10 per cent maximum daily allowable change at the NSE.

“The equity market responded positively today to the earnings and dividend expectations in the market,” FSDH Securities, which trades on the NSE, stated in post-trading review.

Most sectoral indices also closed on the upside, underlining the widespread positive sentiments in the market. The NSE Industrial Index, where Dangote Cement is listed, recorded the highest gain of 3.0%. The NSE Banking Index appreciated by 1.7% while the NSE Insurance Index inched up by 0.9%. On the other hand, the NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 1.1% while the NSE Oil & Gas Index closed flat.

“Amidst the pockets of opportunities due to cheap market valuations and expectation of corporate actions, we expect sentiment to remain positive as investors continue to position ahead of earnings releases,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Dangote Cement led the 23-stock gainers’ list with a gain of N8 to close at N168. CAP followed with a gain of N1.78 to close at N37.56. PZ Cussons Nigeria rose by N1.10 to close at N24.10. Dangote Sugar Refinery and Unilever Nigeria added 50 kobo each to close at N5.99 and N27.50 respectively while Cement Company of Northern Nigeria rallied 47 kobo to close at N9 per share.

Total turnover stood at 314.48 million shares valued at N2.27 billion in 3,343 deals. FCMB was the most active stock with a turnover of 75.62 million shares worth N51.99 million. Zenith Bank followed with 45.8 million shares worth N537.66 million while FBN Holdings recorded 44.44 million shares valued at N162.29 million.

On the downside, Seven-Up Bottling Company led the 10-stock losers’ list with a loss of N8.50 to close at N161.50. Nigerian Breweries dropped by N3.80 to close at N98.20. Seplat Petroleum Development Company declined by N2.78 to close at N349.52. International Breweries dropped by 38 kobo to close at N18.15 while Airline Services and Logistics recorded the last double-digit loss of 11 kobo to close at N2.18 per share.

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