NSE LIVE! Equities rally N351b gain in last-minute rush

As the hours ticked away for the 2015 business year, investors appeared to have intensified last-minute portfolio rebalancing and adjustments to ensure that their portfolios are primed for expected full-year earnings and dividend recommendations.

Increased bargain-hunting and demand for highly capitalised stocks triggered a massive rally at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday December 30, the second to the last trading session of the year.

Aggregate market value of quoted equities recorded a whooping day-on-day gain of N351 billion, representing average daily gain of 3.79 per cent. The surge helped to reduce the negative average year-to-date return to -19.85 per cent.

With 33 gainers to nine losers, widespread positive sentiments further orchestrated keen interests in high-cap stocks to create an exceedingly positive market situation. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from N9.202 trillion to close at N9.553 trillion.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the value based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, also rose from 26,763.24 points to close at 27,777.83 points. The bullish trend was also visible in nearly all sectoral and group indices. The NSE Consumer Goods Index and the NSE Industrial Goods Index rose by 4.2 per cent each. The NSE Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 0.7 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index rose by 0.4 per cent. However, the NSE Banking Index slipped by 0.09 per cent.

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Nestle Nigeria, NSE’s highest-priced stock, led the rally with a gain of N34.02 to close at N825. Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s most capitalised quoted company, followed with a gain of N13.05 to close at N164.95. Nigerian Breweries rallied N9 to close at N124. Mobil Oil Nigeria added N5 to close at N155. Okomu Oil Palm gathered N1.08 to close at N28.68. Stanbic IBTC Holdings rose by 75 kobo to close at N15.75. UAC of Nigeria chalked up 65 kobo to close at N20.55. FBN Holdings added 36 kobo to close at N5.09 while Union Bank of Nigeria rose by 30 kobo to close at N6.30 per share.

“We are of the view that today’s positive performance may be linked to last minute buying by portfolio managers who close their books for the year on the 31st of December. We expect the market to sustain gains tomorrow,” Afirnvest Securities stated.

African Alliance Insurance Company Plc was the main stock behind the turnover during the five-hour trading session. African Alliance Insurance recorded a turnover of 1.25 billion shares worth N625 million in 13 deals. This represented 88.65 per cent of aggregate turnover volume of 1.41 billion shares worth N1.95 billion in 2,566 deals.

On the negative side, Transcorp Hotel led the losers with a loss of 30 kobo to close at N5.80. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated followed with a loss of 20 kobo to close at N16 while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (Nahco) dropped by 18 kobo to close at N3.43 per share.

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