NSE LIVE!… Equities sustain upswing on half-year rally

In from Success Allantee…

Nigerian equities market sustained its upswing today (Tuesday) as investors anticipated half-year earnings and bided to adjust their portfolios for the first-half closing.
The All Share Index (ASI), the value-based index that tracks all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), rose by 0.62 per cent today, consolidating the bullish start that saw a gain of 1.20 per cent on Monday. The ASI rose from 33,249.19 points to close at 33.456.83 points.
Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also followed the uptrend with a gain of N71 billion to close at N11.421 trillion as against its opening value of N11.350 trillion. The two-day uptrend helped to reduce the negative average year-to-date return to -3.46 per cent.
The market performance was driven largely by gains recorded by some highly capitalised stocks including Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries, Lafarge Africa, Diamond Bank and UAC of Nigeria. With 25 advancers to 26 decliners, the market still remained on a cautious footing.

Read Also: NSE LIVE!… Equities in strong start with N135b gain

“We believe this last-minute rally was driven by mid-year portfolio reassessment by investors in a bid to wrap-up performance for first half of 2015,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities stated.
Analysts however noted that in spite of the bearish trend observed in the market lately, half year results which have started filtering into the market will strengthen market activity.
Analysts said companies with interim dividend paying history will be attractive buy now.
Total turnover yesterday stood at 268.57 million shares valued at N4.29 billion in 4,814 deals.
Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s most capitalised stock, led the gainers with a gain of N6 to close at N180. Nigerian Breweries, the second most capitalised stock, followed with a gain of N2.78 to close at N149.98. Guinness Nigeria rose by N1.64 to close at N162.81 while Presco added N1.50 to close at N35.
On the downside, Nestle Nigeria, the market’s highest-priced stock, led the losers with a loss of N32.20 to close at N857. Forte Oil dropped by N2.88 to close at N188.22. PZ Cussons Nigeria lost N1.55 to close at N30.45 while Cadbury Nigeria declined by N1.47 to close at N35.03 per share.

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