NSE LIVE! High-cap stocks lift equities to N51b gain

nQuoted equities rode on the back of substantial gains by leading stocks to bounce back to the positive side in spite of widespread selling pressure. All key indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated a positive overall market position.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose by N51 billion to close on Thursday at N8.585 trillion as against the opening value of N8.534 trillion.

The All Share Index (ASI)- a value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, also appreciated by 0.60 per cent to close at 24,957.08 points as against its opening index of 24,809.29 points. The rally on Thursday helped to reduce the negative average year-to-date return to -12.87 per cent.

While there were 22 losers to 18 gainers, gains were recorded by highly capitalised stocks such as Nigerian Breweries, Dangote Cement, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Total Nigeria and Guaranty Trust Bank.

“The upward movements in a number of highly capitalised stocks were

responsible for the gain in the equity market today,” FSDH Securities stated in post-trading review.

Read also: Access Bank to raise N100bn debt capital

Sectoral analysis showed mixed performance. The NSE Banking Index rose by 1.6 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 0.7 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index inched up by 0.07 per cent. However, the NSE Industrial Goods Index fell by 0.9 per cent. Also, the NSE Oil & Gas Index dropped by 1.2 per cent.

Total Nigeria led the gainers with a gain of N14.13 to close at N154.19. Nigerian Breweries rose by N4.31 to close at N110.38. Dangote Cement followed with a gain of N2.41 to close at N163.40. Flour Mills of Nigeria gathered N1 to close at N21 while Guaranty Trust Bank chalked up 41 kobo to close at N16.64 per share.

The momentum of trading activities also improved as volume and value traded grew by 18.7 per cent and 48 per cent respectively. Total turnover stood at 338.3 million shares valued at N2.0 billion in 3,428 deals. Banking stocks remained atop activities chart. The three most active stocks were FBN Holdings, with 171.92 million shares; Access Bank, 24.50 million shares and United Bank for Africa, which recorded turnover of 21.26 million shares.

On the downside, Forte Oil continued its slide with a loss of N11.87 to close at N225.63 while Guinness Nigeria declined by N4 to close at N91. Lafarge Africa lost N3.67 to close at N70.33. UAC of Nigeria dropped by 80 kobo to close at N18.20 while UACN Property Development Company declined by 18 kobo to close at N3.85 per share.

Notwithstanding the positive closing position, analysts at Afrinvest Securities remained cautious that the market lacks macroeconomic fundamentals to drive sustainable recovery.

“Earnings releases have been broadly mixed with few companies outperforming market expectation while forward earnings expectation continues to be dictated by macroeconomic factors. With not so much positive development in the macro scene to bolster investor sentiment amidst an influx of mixed earnings releases, we believe that investor sentiment may remain soft in tomorrow (Friday)’s trading session,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

 

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