NSE LIVE! High-cap stocks lift equities to N34bn gain

The Nigerian stock market broke away from its recent streak of consecutive losses on Wednesday as bargain-hunters sought to take advantage of attractive prices of some highly capitalised stocks.

After six consecutive negative trading sessions, quoted equities recorded a net capital gain of N34 billion on Wednesday, equivalent to average return of 0.39 per cent.

The rally was largely driven by gains recorded by three highly capitalised stocks including Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries and Forte Oil. With 14 losers to 10 gainers, the underlying sentiments at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) remained widely negative.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from N8.663 trillion to close at N8.697 trillion, representing a gain of N34 billion. The All Share Index (ASI), the value-based common index for the stock market, also rose by 0.39 per cent from 25,032.17 points to close at 25,130.26 points. The modest rally helped to reduce the negative average year-to-date return to -6.49 per cent.

Sectoral indices showed mixed performance, underlining the generally low investors’ appetite in spite of the bargain-hunting for value stocks. The NSE Consumer Goods Index recovered from a six-day consecutive decline with a modest gain of 1.7 per cent.

The NSE Oil & Gas Index also rose by 1.1 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index inched up by 0.3 per cent. However, the NSE Banking Index declined by 1.1 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index depreciated by 0.5 per cent.

Forte Oil, which has suffered considerable decline as the worst-performing stock at the Exchange, rebounded on Wednesday to lead the gainers with a gain of N5.80 to close at N62.50. Nigerian Breweries, NSE’s second most capitalised stock, followed with a gain of N4.68 to close at N117.50.

Beta Glass placed third with a gain of N1.73 to close at N36.45. Dangote Cement, NSE’s most capitalised stock, rallied 99 kobo to close at N169 while United Capital added 15 kobo to close at N3.70 per share.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities lose N74bn as sell pressure mounts on FMCGs

Turnover stood at 161.93 million shares valued at N1.80 billion in 4,216 deals. Banking stocks dominated the top activities chart. Zenith Bank was the most active with 48.5 million shares valued at N727.6 million. Sterling Bank followed with 25.99 million shares worth N18.22 million while Guaranty Trust Bank placed third with 20.04 million shares valued at N477.1 million.

On the negative side, Guinness Nigeria led the losers with a loss of N3.08 to close at N60.92. CAP followed with a loss of 83 kobo to close at N29.60. Guaranty Trust Bank declined by 49 kobo to close at N23.80. Newrest ASL Nigeria dropped by 14 kobo to close at N2.73. Zenith Bank lost 13 kobo to close at N15.01 while Access Bank and Africa Prudential Registrars dropped by 10 kobo each to close at N6.60 and N3.05 respectively.

Analysts remained cautious about the sustainability of the market recovery, citing weak macro and micro fundamentals.

“We expect the respite witnessed at today (Wednesday) `s session to be somewhat momentary at tomorrow`s trading. Though, the oversold condition currently prevalent in the market is compelling for risk tolerant investors,” SCM Capital stated.

“Despite today (Wednesday)’s positive close, which was broadly driven by bargain hunting in stocks that had previously declined, sentiment weakened as indicated by the market breadth. Hence, we believe this positive close may be short-lived,” Afrinvest Securities stated in post trading note.

 

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