NSE LIVE! Equities in tight trades as investors await earnings

Nigerian equities walked the tight rope on Tuesday as bargain-hunting counterbalanced resurgent selling pressure, leaving the market with a marginal gain.

With 19 gainers to 18 losers, aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) inched up from N8.246 trillion to close at N8.247 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based general index that tracks prices of all quoted companies, inched up by 0.02 per cent to close at 23,981.09 points as against its opening index of 23,977.10 points.

The marginal gain of 0.02 per cent slightly moderated the negative average year-to-date return to -16.27 per cent. As against the situation on Monday when overall performance was driven majorly by Dangote Cement, price trend analysis on Tuesday showed widespread positive sentiments.

All sectoral indices, with the exception of the banking sector, closed on the upside. The NSE Consumer Goods Index rose by 1.0 per cent. The NSE Oil and Gas Index appreciated by 0.68 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index improved by 0.3 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index inched up by 0.02 per cent. However, the NSE Banking Index dropped by 0.9 per cent.

Read also: Forex policy: Buhari got it wrong –Sanusi

Market analysts said the market situation was driven by expectations of dividend recommendations and full-year earnings of quoted companies. The board of Nigerian Breweries is meeting today to discuss the company’s annual report and dividend recommendation for 2015. Nigerian Breweries’ share price rose by 86 kobo to close at N96.06.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities said the two-day uptrend had been sustained by bargain hunting activities. Analysts were however cautious about the sustainability of the uptrend in the days ahead noting that “the momentum may be short lived as macro-economic glitches remain unchanged”
“While investors with greater risk appetites and short holding period can make quick gains by riding on market volatilities, we advise long term investors to maintain positions in stocks with sound fundamentals,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Seven-Up Bottling Company led the gainers’ list with a gain of N7.28 to close at N183.98. Mobil Oil Nigeria followed with a gain of N6.99 to close at N152. Seplat Petroleum Development Company added N5 to close at N250. Unilever Nigeria rose by N1.59 to close at N33.43. Flour Mills of Nigeria chalked up 47 kobo to close at N19.50. Guaranty Trust Bank and Portland Paints and Products Nigeria added 16 kobo each to close at N16.40 and N3.77 respectively while Sterling Bank added 14 kobo to close at N1.85.

Turnover stood at 169.5 million shares valued at N1.52 billion in 3,021 deals. FCMB Group was the most active stock with a turnover of 43.65 million shares worth N39.28 million in 106 deals. It was followed by Diamond Bank with a turnover of 28.65 million shares worth N48.43 million.

On the negative side, UAC of Nigeria led the losers’ list with a loss of N1.03 to close at N19.86. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated followed with a loss of 70 kobo to close at N15. Union Bank of Nigeria declined by 17 kobo to close at N5.05. FBN Holdings and Zenith Bank dropped by 14 kobo each to close at N3.78 and N12.59 respectively while Oando declined by 8.0 kobo to close at N3.80 per share.

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