NSE LIVE! Equities in marginal recovery with N5bn gain

Nigerian equities regained their uptrend on Tuesday as investors continued bargain-hunting for value stocks.

After breaking a four-day consecutive rally with a loss of N12 billion on Monday, the Nigerian equities rallied back on Tuesday with a modest gain of N5 billion.

The overall market situation remained broadly positive with 23 gainers to 18 losers. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose slightly from opening value of N9.707 trillion to close at N9.712 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the benchmark index that tracks prices at the Exchange, inched up by 0.5 per cent to close at 28,093.30 points as against its opening index of 28,078.30 points.

Sectoral indices showed mixed performance. The NSE Consumer Goods Index rose by 1.4 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 1.2 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index declined by 0.7 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index depreciated by 0.3 per cent while the NSE Banking Index slipped by 0.1 per cent.

Nestle Nigeria, the highest-priced stock at the Exchange, led the gainers with a gain of N14 to close at N850. Nigerian Breweries rose by N3.16 to close at N144. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria appreciated by 57 kobo to close at N16. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated added 31 kobo to close at N9.62. Newrest ASL gathered 20 kobo to close at N4.27 while UACN Property Development Company and Fidson Healthcare chalked up 16 kobo each to close at N1.86 and N1.96 respectively.

Read also: NSE LIVE! NB drags equities to N12bn loss in opening trades

Total turnover stood at 207.2 million shares valued at N2.1 billion. FBN Holdings was the most active stock with 27.86 million shares valued at N113.12 million. Diamond Bank followed with 27.66 million shares worth N24.65 million while Fidelity Bank recorded a turnover of 19.22 million shares valued at N18.28 million.

On the negative side, Total Nigeria led the losers with a loss of N9.99 to close at N260.01. Lafarge Africa followed with a loss of N1.05 to close at N47.45. Dangote Cement declined by 99 kobo to close at N162.01. United Bank for Africa lost 23 kobo to close at N6.99. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria dropped by 22 kobo to close at N4.61 while Dangote Flour Mills depreciated by 21 kobo to close at N4.13 per share.

The market performance defied the report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday showing that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2017. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also on Tuesday decided to retain the benchmark interest rate at 14 per cent.

“We reiterate that the upticks that have been witnessed in the market have been largely driven by improvements in the foreign exchange markets as well as macroeconomic fundamentals; consequently, we expect this positive run to be sustained in the trading sessions ahead,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

 

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