NSE LIVE! Nigerian equities hit N16tn amidst continuing rally

Nigerian equities continued their mouth-watering rally on Wednesday with a net capital gain of N297 billion within five hours of trading, pushing the aggregate market value of all quoted equities to a new all time-high of N16.08 trillion.

In the past 12 trading sessions in 2018, Nigerian equities have earned N2.47 trillion in capital gains as global hunt for value stocks and improved macroeconomic conditions turned attention of foreign portfolio investors and domestic institutional fund managers to Nigerian stock market.

With 40 advancers to 19 decliners, aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose from its opening value of N15.783 trillion to close Wednesday at N16.080 trillion, representing net capital gain of N297 billion or 1.89 per cent. The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks share prices at the Exchange, rose simultaneously by 1.89 per cent from its opening index of 44,054.72 points to close at 44,885.24 points.

With this, average year-to-date return for Nigerian equities spiralled to 17.37 per cent, equivalent to net capital gain of N2.47 trillion so far in 2018, already more than half of the full-year return for 2017. Total net average return for Nigerian equities in 2017 stood at N4.36 trillion or 42.3 per cent.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Nigerian equities net N2.17tr in 11 days

Large-cap stocks in the manufacturing and oil and gas sectors led the rally. 11, formerly Mobil Oil Nigeria, led the advancers with a gain of N16.50 to close at N216. Dangote Cement-Nigeria’s most capitalised quoted company followed with a gain of N13 to close at N273, its highest price in a year. Guinness Nigeria rose by N5.70 to close at N119.70. Beta Glass added N2.69 to close at N56.56 while Conoil appreciated by N1.97 to close at N41.38 per share.

On the negative side, Nigeria’s second most capitalised quoted company, Nigerian Breweries led the decliners with a loss of N3.44 to close at N146.05. Nascon Allied Industries followed with a drop of N1.10 to close at N21. Zenith Bank declined by N1.01 to close at N32.50. Cadbury Nigeria dipped by 80 kobo to close at N15.31 while Dangote Flour Mills dropped by 39 kobo to close at N15.95 per share.

Total turnover rose by 51 per cent to 960.75 million shares valued at N12.52 billion in 8,866 deals. Low-priced stocks remained the toasts of retail investors. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria was the most active stock with a turnover of 140.61 million shares valued at N358.18 million. Sterling Bank followed with a turnover of 104.34 million shares worth N252.49 million while Wema Bank ranked third with 95.46 million shares valued at N88.79 million.

Analysts at FSDH Securities noted that the overall market performance was driven by strong demand across the sectors.

“Bargain hunting activities should continue in the coming trading session. However, we expect profit-taking in the market very soon,” FSDH Securities-a subsidiary of the FSDH Merchant Bank stated.

 

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