NSE LIVE! Equities rally N62bn gain to push return to 25.38%

Nigerian equities sustained their rally for the 11th consecutive trading session on Thursday as investors’ appetite for large-cap and bargain stocks left the overall market position with a net capital gain of N62 billion.

With more gainers than losers, the average year-to-date return for Nigerian equities spiraled to 25.38 per cent. Rising double-digit average return has placed Nigerian equities as more profitable class of assets than many fixed-income securities including Nigerian sovereign bonds. Most analysts expect Nigerian equities to sustain positive outlook in the second half, with first half results expected to stimulate price appreciation in the meantime.

“Although we might see some end-of-the-week profit taking in the trading session ahead, we expect that as more positive half-year 2017 corporate scorecards are released, investor sentiment will remain largely positive,” Afrinvest Securities-a Lagos-based dealer on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) stated.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the NSE rose from its opening value of N11.551 trillion to close at N11.613 trillion, representing an increase of N62 billion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based index that tracks share prices at the NSE, also rallied to 33,695.83 points as against ist opening index of 33,514.93 points, representing day-on-day gain of 0.54 per cent.

Most sectoral indices closed positive, underlining both the preponderance of gainers to losers and more importantly, the strong preference for large-cap stocks. The NSE Industrial Goods Index rose by 2.2 per cent. The NSE Banking Index and NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 0.5 per cent each while the NSE Oil & Gas Index inched up by 0.1 per cent. Insurance sector’s gauge, the NSE Insurance Index was the only decliner with a marginal drop of 0.2 per cent.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities hit one-month high with N27bn gain

NSE’s largest companies dominated the top gainers’ list, underlining investors’ appetite for the blue chips. Nestle Nigeria-the highest-priced stock, led the advancers with a gain of N16.50 to close at N920. Lafarge Africa-the second most capitalised cement company in Nigeria, followed with a gain of N2.60 to close at N54.60. Dangote Cement-Nigeria’s most capitalised quoted company, rallied N1 to close at N209. UAC of Nigeria-Nigeria’s oldest and largest conglomerate, appreciated by 81 kobo to close at N17.39. Flour Mills of Nigeria-the most diversified and largest flour-miller, rose by 58 kobo to close at N25.73. Cadbury Nigeria chalked up 44 kobo to close at N12.89. Guaranty Trust Bank-the most capitalised banking stock and third most capitalised quoted company, rose by 40 kobo to close at N37.30. Nigerian Breweries-the second most capitalised company, rose by 35 kobo to close at N160.35 while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Oando appreciated by 28 kobo each to close at N15 and N7.43 respectively.

Turnover was below average with the exchange of 191.43 million shares valued at N2.18 billion in 3,718 deals. Prestige Assurance was the most active stock with a turnover of 26.76 million shares valued at N13.38 million. Guaranty Trust Bank placed second on the activities’ chart with a turnover of 18.75 million shares worth N692.37 million while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria placed third with a turnover of 15.84 million shares valued at N23.88 million.

On the downside, Mobil Oil Nigeria led the losers with a loss of N5.50 to close at N254.50. Seven-Up Bottling Company followed with a drop of N4.74 to close at N90.21. Total Nigeria declined by N3.39 to close at N256.11. PZ Cussons Nigeria dropped by 80 kobo to close at N21.25. CAP lost 44 kobo to close at N35. Berger Paints dropped by 28 kobo to close at N7.12. Access Bank declined by 24 kobo to close at N9.39 while Vitafoam lost 13 kobo to close at N2.56 per share.

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