NSE LIVE! Equities sustain rally with N116bn gain

Nigerian equities further consolidated their rally as investors earned N116 billion in net capital gain within the five hours of trading.

With nearly three advancers to every decliner, the benchmark index for the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) surged by 1.29 per cent, its biggest rise so far this month.

The All Share Index (ASI), which tracks share prices at the NSE, rose from 26,071.16 points to close at 26,407.64 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities crossed another trillion from N8.970 trillion to close at N9.086 trillion.

The rally moderated the negative average year-to-date return to -7.80 per cent, raising hopes that the expected Santa rally may push the market to its first positive close in three years by the end of this year.

Most sectoral indices closed in the positive. The NSE Oil & Gas Index surged by 4.4 per cent. The NSE Banking Index appreciated by 2.3 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index rose by 1.0 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index inched up by 0.5 per cent. However, the NSE Consumer Goods Index declined by 0.67 per cent.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Investors swoop on equities as turnover rises by 247%

Total turnover remained above average with the exchange of 205.4 million shares valued at N4.28 billion in 3,275 deals. United Bank for Africa was the most active stock with 54.7 million shares valued at N235.9 million shares. Diamond Bank followed with 22.01 million shares worth N19.3 million while Zenith Bank trailed with 21.2 million shares worth N306.67 million.

Oil and gas stocks continued to headline the rally. Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the 32-stock gainers’ list with a gain of N25.15 to close at N400. Forte Oil followed with a gain of N11.99 to close at N129.10. Dangote Cement rose by N3.02 to close at N165.02. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria added N1 to close at N15 while International Breweries gained 89 kobo to close at N18.94.

On the other hand, Nigerian Breweries led the 11-stock losers’ list with a loss of N1.96 to close at N143.05. Unilever Nigeria followed with a drop of N1.14 to close at N43.84. Mobil Oil Nigeria declined by N1 to close at N299. Beta Glass lost 99 kobo to close at N32 while Champion Breweries dropped by 11 kobo to close at N2.50 per share.

Most analysts agreed that the domestic rally might not be unconnected with the modest rally in the global crude oil price and early positioning for the year-end results.

“Either way, we think equities would likely continue to outperform in shorter term but medium term performance remains anchored on foreign exchange market liquidity and macroeconomic indicators,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

 

 

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