NSE LIVE! Equities regain uptrend in weekend rally

Quoted equities on Thursday surmounted the initial negative reaction that greeted the decision to raise interest rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as increased demand for several stocks pushed the overall market position to the positive side.

Against the background of Tuesday’s decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN to increase the benchmark interest rate from 11 per cent to 12 per cent, quoted equities had faltered on Wednesday as investors readjusted their portfolios.

The equities market however regained its upswing on Thursday as bargain-hunters discounted the increased interest rates to increase stakes on attractive and substantially undervalued equities. With the gap between the advancers and decliners narrowing down considerably to 17 to 18, aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by N56 billion to close at N8.909 trillion as against its opening value of N8.853 trillion.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the common-share value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities also rose correspondingly by 0.63 per cent to close at 25,899.91 points as against its opening index of 25,736.92 points. The rally on Thursday helped to reduce the negative overhang at the market, with the average year-to-date return improving to -9.57 per cent.

Analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited said the share price rally at the stock market was due to bargain-hunting transactions.

Nigerian Breweries, NSE’s second most capitalised stock, led the 17-stock gainers’ list with a gain of N4.09 to close at N117.70. International Breweries followed with a gain of N1.74 to close at N18.80. Mobil Oil Nigeria gathered N1.09 to close at N156. PZ Cussons Nigeria rose by N1.08 to close at N22.79. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated added 49 kobo to close at N14.74. Zenith Bank rose by 46 kobo to close at N13 while Vitafoam Nigeria chalked up 42 kobo to close at N4.72 per share.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities sustain high-impact narrow rally

On the other hand, Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the 18-stock losers’ list with a drop of N8 to close at N300. Total Nigeria followed with a loss of N2.45 to close at N140.01. Cadbury Nigeria declined by 76 kobo to close at N14.77. Nestle Nigeria dropped by 55 kobo to N700 while Nascon Allied Industries declined by 34 kobo to close at N6.52 per share.

Total turnover stood at 397.05 million shares valued atN3.28 billion in 3,742 deals. The three most active stocks included Zenith Bank, with 89.38 million shares; Guaranty Trust Bank, with 79.89 million shares and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, which recorded turnover of 49.42 million shares.

 

 

 

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