NSE LIVE! Equities’ rally gathers momentum with N41bn gain

Nigerian equities continued on the uptrend on Thursday, rallying N41 billion in net capital gains as investors showed increased appetite for several stocks across many sectors.

In the third consecutive positive trading session, gainers again outstripped losers and most sectoral indices closed on the upside.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose from its opening value of N8.756 trillion to close at N8.797 trillion, representing a gain of N41 billion.

The All Share Index (ASI), the common value-based index that tracks prices at NSE, also improved from 25,301.23 points to close at 25,418.08 points, representing average week-on week gain of 0.46 per cent. The average year-to-date return improved to -5.42 per cent.

Sectoral indices closed mostly on the upside, underlining the positive sentiments across the sectors. The NSE Banking Index rose by 1.78 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 0.96 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index inched up to 0.2 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index rose by 0.07 per cent.

However, the NSE Industrial Goods Index played the contrarian with a decline of 0.15 per cent.

Nigerian Breweries, NSE’s second most capitalised stock, led the 18-stock gainers’ list with a gain of N3.14 to close at N133.84. Forte Oil followed with a gain of N1.12 to close at N48.93. Guaranty Trust Bank added 45 kobo to close at N25.80. Zenith Bank rallied 40 kobo to close at N14.55. Flour Mills of Nigeria chalked up 35 kobo to close at N17.85.

Cadbury Nigeria added 25 kobo to close at N7.84. United Bank for Africa (UBA) gathered 20 kobo to close at N5.40. Nascon Allied Industries rose by 15 kobo to close at N6.80 while Unilever Nigeria chalked up 10 kobo to close at N34 per share.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities sustain modest rally with N5bn gain

Investors also upped demand for equities as total turnover rose to 280.94 million shares worth N2.35 billion in 2,468 deals. Custodian and Allied led the activities chart with a turnover of 80.34 million shares worth N259.55 million. Oando followed with a turnover of 54.73 million shares worth N281.8 million while UBA placed third with 34.3 million shares worth N181.66 million.

On the negative side, Seven-Up Bottling Company led the 14-stock losers’ list with a loss of N8.29 to close at N77.71. Total Nigeria declined by N5.45 to close at N274.55. Ashaka Cement and Dangote Cement dropped by 50 kobo each to close at N9.50 and N160 respectively. UAC of Nigeria lost 25 kobo to close at N14. Custodian and Allied slipped by 17 kobo to close at N3.23 while Dangote Flour Mills dropped by 10 kobo to close at N3.70.

“We expect a further positive close at tomorrow’s session, given the increased momentum and strong appetite emanating from investors,” SCM Capital Markets stated.

However, analysts at Afrinvest Securities were cautious. “Given the uptrend in market lately with no major driver boosting performance, we believe the bullish streak may be short-lived. Nevertheless, we anticipate a positive close for the benchmark index in the week,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

 

 

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