NSE LIVE! Equities rebound amidst renewed bargain-hunting

After losing a total of N513 billion in three successive negative trading sessions, Nigerian equities staged a comeback yesterday as investors sought to take positions in several stocks that had suffered price depreciation in recent period.

The renewed bargain-hunting nudged momentum of activities and closed most transactions at premium, leaving the market with a net capital gain of N81 billion.

Leading stocks in the oil and gas, building materials and construction, banking and consumer goods sectors led the rally yesterday, underlining the cautious portfolio realignment that favoured companies with strong fundamentals that can withstand macroeconomic challenges.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) improved from its opening value of N10.158 trillion to close at N10.239 trillion. The benchmark index for the Nigerian stock market, the All Share Index (ASI), also trended upward from 29,575.24 points to close at 29,812.91 points. Average year-to-date return improved to 4.09 per cent.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities continue decline with N91b loss

Sectoral indices showed widespread positive sentiments across the sectors. The NSE Banking Index rose by 2.0 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index appreciated by 0.6 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index rose by 0.4 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index inched up by 0.01 per cent. However, the NSE Insurance Index slipped by 0.7 per cent.

Forte Oil led the 24-stock gainers’ list with a gain of N3.03 to close at N194.03. Julius Berger Nigeria rose by N2.42 to close at N50.93. Seven-Up Bottling Company added N2 to close at N142. Dangote Cement chalked up N1.89 to close at N194. Guaranty Trust Bank rose by 93 kobo to close at N23.25. Berger Paints added 36 kobo to close at N7.67. Zenith Bank rose by 35 kobo to close at N16. Flour Mills of Nigeria rose by 30 kobo to N22.62. University Press gathered 21 kobo to close at N4.58 while FBN Holdings appreciated by 18 kobo to N3.99 per share.

Total turnover rose by 19.8 per cent to 305.81 million shares valued at N2.86 billion in 4,640 deals. The most active stock was Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), with 52.97 million shares valued at N94.56 million. Access Bank followed with a turnover of 45.57 million shares worth N264.27 million while United Bank for Africa placed third with a turnover of 38.48 million shares valued at N183.04 million.

Analysts said they expected the rally to continue in the next trading session as a combination of bargain-hunting for value stocks and month-end portfolio rebalancing is expected to keep buy orders above sell orders.

On the downside, Ashaka Cement led 17 other stocks on the losers’ list, dropping by N1.05 to close at N19.95. Champion Breweries followed with a drop of 23 kobo to close at N4.46. UACN Property Development Company lost 22 kobo to close at N4.28. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated declined by 19 kobo to N16.51 while Fidson Healthcare dropped by 17 kobo to close at N2.27 per share.

 

 

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