NSE LIVE! Equities rally gathers momentum with N67bn gain

Nigerian equities continued on the uptrend on Wednesday as increased demand for large-cap stocks drove the market to second consecutive gain.

Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated average day-on-day gain of 0.69 per cent, equivalent to a net capital gain of N67 billion.

With 27 gainers to 19 losers, the positive market situation was driven by widespread gains across the sectors, especially among the large-cap stocks in the three key sectors of consumer goods, industrial goods and banking and finance.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose from its opening value of N9.712 trillion to close at N9.779 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI), which tracks prices of quoted companies, also rose correspondingly to close at 28,286.43 points as against its opening index of 28,093.30 points.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities in marginal recovery with N5bn gain

Average year-to-date return improved to 5.25 per cent, with banking stocks still leading the group of most rewarding stocks so far this year.

Nearly all tracked indices closed on the upside with the exception of the NSE Industrial Goods Index which declined by 0.7 per cent. The NSE Banking Index rose by 1.5 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 0.7 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index rose by 0.7 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index rallied by 0.3 per cent.

Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the gainers with a gain of N17.30 to close at N390. Nigerian Breweries followed with a gain of N2 to close at N146. International Breweries rose by N1.02 to close at N22. Dangote Cement chalked up 99 kobo to close at N163. Conoil rose by 75 kobo to close at N34. Guaranty Trust Bank added 47 kobo to close at N32.60. Zenith Bank gathered 30 kobo to close at N18.01. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria garnered 23 kobo to close at N4.84. Nascon Allied Industries rose by 20 kobo to close at N8.70 while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated added 18 kobo to close at N9.80 per share.

Total turnover stood at 311.27 million shares valued at N3.46 billion in 4,194 deals. Banks remained the most active stocks with Zenith Bank leading with 94.79 million shares valued at N1.70 billion. Jaiz Bank followed with 35.08 million shares worth N34.37 million while FBN Holdings placed third with 34.35 million shares valued at N143.65 million.

“We expect a mixed market mood to prevail at tomorrow (Friday)’s trading session. Our expectation is tilted towards the downside as momentum oscillator is currently indicating that the index is in the overbought condition,” SCM Capital Markets, a Lagos-based dealer at the Exchange, stated.

On the other hand, Forte Oil led the losers with a loss of N2.29 to close at N45.60. Stanbic IBTC Holdings followed with a loss of 99 kobo to close at N25.01. Oando dropped by 45 kobo to close at N8.55. Cadbury Nigeria lost 22 kobo to close at N9.90. UAC of Nigeria dropped by 19 kobo to close at N14.33 while Champion Breweries and Dangote Sugar Refinery declined by 10 kobo each to close at N2.06 and N6.75 respectively.

“As improvements in the foreign exchange market as well as strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals remain a major driver of activities in the market, we expect the positive performance to be sustained in the trading session ahead,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities stated in a positive preview of the market on Thursday.

 

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