NSE LIVE! Equities open with N35bn gain on FMCGs rally

Nigerian equities reopened on Monday with a strong underlying profit-taking pressure but a counter rally within the consumer goods and industrial goods sectors staved off a decline and left the market with a modest gain of N35 billion.

Key benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rode on the back of gains by the consumer goods and industrial goods sectoral indices to close positive, for the fifth consecutive trading session. With average day-on-day gain of 0.27 per cent on Monday, the average year-to-date return for Nigerian equities increased to 39.63 per cent.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based common index that tracks prices at the Exchange, rose from its opening index of 37,425.15 points to close at 37,525.38 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also appreciated correspondingly from its opening value of N12.899 trillion to close at N12.934 trillion.

With 27 decliners to 23 advancers, the positive overall market position was mostly driven by gains recorded by leading fast moving consumer goods companies (FMCGs) and cement companies such as Nestle Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Seven-Up Bottling Company, Cadbury Nigeria, Lafarge Africa and Dangote Flour Mills.

The NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 2.2 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index improved by 0.6 per cent. However, the NSE Insurance Index declined by 2.0 per cent while the NSE Banking Index and NSE Oil & Gas Index dropped by 0.2 per cent each.

Nestle Nigeria-the highest-priced stock at the Exchange, rose to a new high with a gain of N33.58 to close at N1, 060. Nigerian Breweries-the second most capitalised company, followed with a gain of N5.35 to close at N181. Mobil Oil Nigeria rose by N4.90 to close at N236.90. Seven-Up Bottling Company added N2.70 to close at N94.70. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria and Lafarge Africa rose by N1 each to close at N10.84 and N60. Cadbury Nigeria appreciated by 59 kobo to close at N12.39 while Dangote Flour Mills gathered 41 kobo to close at N5.80.

Read also: NSE RoundUp! Investors’ return hits N3.65tn as equities reach 24-month high

Total turnover stood at 254.48 million shares worth N5.80 billion in 4,600 deals. Access Bank was the most active stock with 46.29 million shares worth N464.54 million. Zenith Bank followed with 29.57 million shares worth N746.16 million while Guaranty Trust Bank ranked third with 25.54 million shares valued at N1.025 billion.

On the downside, Okomu Oil Palm led the losers’ list with a drop of N2.23 to close at N70. Dangote Cement dropped by N1.21 to close at N240.79. Flour Mills of Nigeria declined by N1.03 to close at N28.97. Unilever Nigeria dipped by 90 kobo to close at N40.10. Forte Oil lost 83 kobo to close at N59.54. UAC of Nigeria declined by 55 kobo to close at N16.95. Stanbic IBTC Holdings dropped by 48 kobo to close at N37.02 while Oando depreciated by 15 kobo to close at N7.80 per share.

“In coming sessions, we expect market performance to remain driven by expectations of half-year 2017 corporate earnings. As more Tier-1 banks are set to release their half-year 2017 earnings in coming weeks, we believe market performance will remain upbeat,” Afrinvest Securities-a Lagos-based dealer at the Exchange, stated.

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