NSE LIVE! Equities regain uptrend with N45b gain

Nigerian equities regained their upswing on Wednesday as investors increased market orders across the large, mid and small-cap stocks.

The market had on Tuesday broke its eight-day rally after the two most capitalised stocks at the stock market-Dangote Cement and Nigerian Breweries, suffered share price declines.

The stock market rode on the back of gains by Dangote Cement and Nigerian Breweries and increasing positive sentiments to regain the momentum on Wednesday. With 27 gainers to 12 losers, the key indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) trended upward.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted companies on the NSE, rose by 0.51 per cent to close at 25,885.31 points as against its opening index of 25,755.01 points. Aggregate market capitalisation of all quoted equities rose by N45 billion from N8.859 trillion to close at N8.904 trillion. The average year-to-date return at the stock market improved to -9.63 per cent.

Analysts at FSDH Securities noted that the positive overall market situation was driven by gains recorded by highly capitalised stocks such as Dangote Cement, Zenith Bank, Nigerian Breweries, Unilever Nigeria, and Lafarge Africa.

Sectoral review showed widespread gains across the sectors. The NSE Oil and Gas Index and the NSE Banking Index rose by 0.7 per cent each. The NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 0.6 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index inched up by 0.4 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index rose by 0.2 per cent.

Okomu Oil Palm led the gainers with a gain of N1.50 to close at N31.50. Nigerian Breweries followed with a gain of 96 kobo to close at N97. Dangote Cement rose by 88 kobo to close at N164. Unilever Nigeria and Lafarge Africa added 50 kobo each to close at N28 and N85.50 respectively. Oando gathered 41 kobo to close at N4.44. Nascon Allied Industries chalked up 35 kobo to close at N7.37. Flour Mills of Nigeria rose by 31 kobo to close at N17.51. Zenith Bank added 21 kobo to close at N12.40 while Tiger Brands rose by 20 kobo to close at N2.27 per share.

“We are of the view that the market may sustain recent uptrend for the week, however, we do not rule out profit taking as seen yesterday. In the short-term, we maintain our stance that investors buy into companies with consistent dividend payment history ahead of their earnings releases,” Afrinvest Securities-a Lagos-based dealer on the NSE, stated.

Total turnover stood at 214.95 million shares valued at N1.35 billion in 3,334 deals. FCMB Holdings was the most active stock with a turnover of 34.42 million shares valued at N28.21 million in 166 deals. Fidelity Bank followed with 27.77 million shares worth N31.97 million in 101 deals while FBN Holdings placed third with a turnover of 18.82 million shares worth N69.54 in 345 deals.

On the downside, Beta Glass led the losers with a loss of N2.50 to close at N47.50. PZ Cussons Nigeria declined by 50 kobo to close at N24.70. Nigerian German Chemical dropped by 24 kobo to close at N4.67 while Custodian and Allied and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated declined by 10 kobo to close at N3.80 and N18 respectively.

 

 

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