NSE LIVE! Nigerian equities rally N138b gain as emerging stocks recover

After two consecutive weeks of losses, Nigerian equities rallied on the back of bargain-hunting for highly capitalised stocks to record net capital gain of N138 billion last week, broadly in line with the global positive performance of emerging stocks.

The benchmark index for the Nigerian stock market, the All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), rose by 1.48 per cent to close the week at 27,650.32 points as against its week’s opening index of 27,246.88 points. The aggregate market value of all quoted companies also rose correspondingly from N9.358 trillion to close at N9.496 trillion, representing a gain of N138 billion.

The recovery at the Nigerian market appeared to further underscored the global preference for emerging stocks in recent trading sessions. All main indices in the emerging markets bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) closed on the upside. China’s Shanghai Index rose by 1.9 per cent. Russia’s RTS Index appreciated by 1.1 per cent. Brazil’s IBOVESPA rode on the Olympics spirit to gain 0.9 per cent while South Africa’s FTSE/JTSE index improved by 0.1 per cent.

African equities were also on the uptrend. Ghana’s Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index appreciated by 4.2 per cent while Kenya’s Nairobi Stock Exchange Index rose by 0.4 per cent. However, Egypt’s EGX 30 Index slipped by 0.7 per cent.

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Meanwhile, the advanced markets of Europe and America traded largely on the negative. In United States of America, the S & P Index declined by 0.1 per cent while the twin gauge the NASDAQ  Index counterbalanced with a gain of 0.2 per cent. In United Kingdom, the UK FTSE Index declined by 0.8 per cent. France’s CAC 40 Index declined by 2.2 per cent. Germany’s XETRA DAX Index depreciated by 1.6 per cent. In Asia, it was a mixed performance. Japan’s Nikkei Index fell by 2.2 per cent while Hong Kong’s HANG-SENG Index appreciated by 0.7 per cent.

The rally at the Nigerian stock market was driven largely by highly capitalised stocks as selling sentiments remained wide. There were 25 advancers against 39 decliners for the week compared with 18 advancers and 38 decliners recorded in the previous week. The larger part of the market remained dormant. There were 116 flat stocks last week as against 124 that closed unchanged in the previous week. Average year-to-date return at the Nigerian stock market however remained negative at -3.46 per cent.

Most sectoral indices, largely controlled by highly capitalised stocks, closed on the positive. The NSE 30 Index, which tracks Nigeria’s 30 most capitalised stocks, recorded a week-on-week gain of 1.91 per cent. The NSE Banking Index rallied a gain of 2.14 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index rose by 2.63 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index appreciated by 2.56 per cent.However, the NSE Insurance Index and the NSE Oil and Gas Index declined by 1.19 per cent and 3.44 per cent respectively.

Unilever Nigeria recorded the highest gain, in percentage terms, of 10.23 per cent to close at N38.58. NEM Insurance followed with a gain of 10 per cent to close at 88 kobo. Nigerian Breweries rose by 5.75 per cent. Lafarge Africa appreciated by 5.11 per cent to close at N2.70. Seven-Up Bottling Company improved by 4.97 per cent to close at N114.45. Stanbic IBTC Holdings recorded a week-on-week gain of 4.32 per cent to close at N14.50. Guaranty Trust Bank appreciated by 4.12 per cent to close at N25.25. Fidelity Bank increased by 4.04 per cent to close at N1.03 while Livestock Feeds added 3.33 per cent to close at 93 kobo.

On the negative side, Champion Breweries led the losers with a loss of 19.53 per cent to close at N2.76. Wema Bank dropped by 15.07 per cent to close at 62 kobo. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company declined by 14 per cent to close at N3.44. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria lost 11.97 per cent to close at N5.81. Fidson Healthcare dropped by 11.67 per cent to close at N1.59 while AIICO Insurance depreciated by 10 per cent to 63 kobo per share.

Total turnover stood at 1.375 billion shares worth N12.940 billion in 16,915 deals last week as against 1.361 billion shares valued at N10.711 billion traded in 16,070 deals in the previous week. The financial services sector led the activity chart with 1.195 billion shares valued at N8.631 billion traded in 10,365 deals; contributing 86.90 per cent and 66.70 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The conglomerates sector followed with 76.489 million shares worth N154.736 million in 964 deals. The third place was occupied by the consumer goods sector with a turnover of 38.048 million shares worth N1.768 billion in 2,676 deals.

The three most active stocks were United Bank for Africa Plc, Access Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc, which jointly accounted for 559.065 million shares worth N2.452 billion in 3,690 deals,representing 40.66 per cent and 18.95 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

In the non-ordinary equity segment, a total of 57,828 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N766, 162 were traded in 37 deals last week compared with a total of 1,003 million units valued at N12.116 million traded in 43 deals in the previous week.

In the debt segment, a total of 3,127 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N3.057 million were traded in six deals compared to a total of 4,044 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N4.062 million traded in same six deals two weeks ago.

Analysts remained cautious about the outlook for the Nigerian equities, as the macro headwinds continued to hunt corporate earnings.

“Performance in the coming week may wane in the absence of exciting earnings numbers as observed this week. Nevertheless, we advise investors to take advantage of attractive valuation in the equities market at the moment,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities stated in a 50-50 catch projection.

 

 

 

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