NSE LIVE! Equities sustain 7-day rally with N159bn gain

Nigerian equities continued on the uptrend on Thursday, the seventh consecutive positive trading session in a sustained rally that had seen the average year-to-date return at the equities market rising to 47.11 per cent.

Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed a day-on-day gain of 1.17 per cent, equivalent to net capital gain of N159 billion. This spurred the average year-to-date return to 47.11 per cent, implying that investors in equities have so far earned more than N4.52 trillion in capital appreciation so far this year.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the main common value-based index that tracks share prices at the NSE rose from its opening index of 39,075.30 points to close at 39,534.14 points. Aggregate market value of quoted equities also rose from its opening value of N13.609 trillion to close at N13.768 trillion.

While the overall market situation remained positive with more advancers than decliners, pricing trend analysis showed increased profit-taking transactions as investors sought to lock in recent capital gains. Most sectoral indices closed negative, underlining the profit-taking transactions on some sectoral leaders.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities hit new high with N203bn gain

Meanwhile, fast moving consumer goods companies and banks continued their rally, consolidating their positions as the most profitable sectors so far this year. The NSE Consumer Goods Index rose by 2.7 per cent while the NSE Banking Index appreciated by 1.8 per cent. However, the NSE Industrial Goods Index dropped by 0.8 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index declined by 0.5 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index dipped by 0.4 per cent.

Nestle Nigeria-Nigeria’s highest-priced stock led the 28-stock advancers’ list with a gain of N79.97 to close at N1,410.08. Okomu Oil Palm followed with a gain of N5 to close at N75. Seplat Petroleum Development Company rose by N3.31 to close at N501.31. Nigerian Breweries added N3.10 to close at N143.50. Zenith Bank gathered N1.46 to close at N27.50 per share. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria chalked up N1.08 to close at N22.74 while PZ Cussons Nigeria and UAC of Nigeria rose by 84 kobo each to close at N22.85 and N17.94 respectively.

On the downside, Total Nigeria led the 17-stock decliners’ list with a drop of N11.99 to close at N228.01. Guaranty Trust Bank followed with a drop of N1.04 to close at N42.01. Dangote Cement followed with a loss of N1 to close at N250. Lafarge Africa declined by 80 kobo to close at N49. Unilever Nigeria lost 61 kobo to close at N43.79. Cadbury Nigeria dropped by 26 kobo to close at N15.15 per share. Africa Prudential dipped by 17 kobo to close at N3.98. Nascon Allied Industries lost 12 kobo to close at N17 while AXA Mansard declined by 10 kobo to close at N2.05 per share.

Total turnover rose above average with the exchange of 1.1 billion shares valued at N10.2 billion. FCMB Group was the most active stock with a turnover of 154.33 million shares worth N214.41 million. FBN Holdings followed with 127.090 million shares valued at N1.146 billion while United Bank for Africa placed third with 124.75 million shares worth N1.37 billion.

“Even as we expect to see increased profit taking in some counters in trading sessions ahead, the positive momentum in the Bourse will likely be sustained,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

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