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NSE Roundup! Investors gain N613b in 25 hours as equities soar

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NSE LIVE! Equities lose N44b in opening trades

Investors in Nigerian quoted equities netted a total gain of N613 billion within the 25-hour trading sessions last week as scramble for Nigerian equities by foreign and domestic investors pushed the stock market to its highest level so far this year.

All key indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed significant improvements in underlying market sentiments as well as the momentum of trading, with average week-on-week return of 6.59 per cent and turnover value of about N15 billion.

With the adoption of flexible exchange rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) earlier in the week, foreign investors who had been on the sidelines because of foreign exchange concerns literally jumped into the budding bargain-hunting, sending the market into a frenzy that saw significant capital gains across the sectors.

Read Also : NSE Roundup! Equities in month-end rally with N73b gain

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the NSE, which opened the week at N9.313 trillion, rallied consecutively to close the week at N9.926 trillion, indicating a week-on-week gain of N613 billion or 6.58 per cent.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities and doubles as sovereign equities index for Nigeria, crossed a new level from its week’s opening index of 27,116.45 points to close at a high of 28,902.25 points, representing a week-on-week gain of 6.59 per cent.

There were 56 gainers against 20 losers last week compared with 35 gainers and 37 losers recorded in the previous week. However, a total of 104 equities closed flat, within the range of 109 companies that closed flat in previous week.

The sustained rally during the week wiped away the nagging negative overhang that had built up from losses within the past five and a half months. The average year-to-date return for the Nigerian equities turned positive during the week with a modest gain of 0.91 per cent.

All sectoral and group indices at the NSE closed positive, underlining the widespread buying sentiments. The NSE 30 Index, which tracks the 30 most capitalised stocks, recorded above average week-on-week gain of 7.13 per cent. The NSE Banking Index returned 8.17 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index rose by 3.46 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index rose by 8.58 per cent. The NSE Oil and Gas Index appreciated by 2.31 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index gained 5.22 per cent. The NSE Lotus Islamic Index, which tracks equities that comply with Islamic rules, rallied 3.35 per cent while the NSE Pension Index, which tracks equities in line pension fund investment guidelines, rose by 7.78 per cent.

Price analysis showed that DN Meyer recorded the highest gain, in percentage terms, of 28.77 per cent to close at 94 kobo. Oando followed with a gain of 25 per cent to close at N7.50. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company appreciated by 23.6 per cent to close at N5.39. Diamond Bank rose by 23.04 per cent to close at N2.35 while FCMB Group appreciated by 23.02 per cent to close at N1.71 per share.

Total turnover stood at 2.34 billion shares worth N14.79 billion in 24,942 deals last week as against a total of 2.446 billion shares valued at N13.145 billion traded in 23,680 deals in the previous week. The financial services sector led the activity chart with 1.874 billion shares valued at N10.549 billion in 15,232 deals; thus contributing 80.16 per cent and 71.33 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The conglomerates sector followed with 225.806 million shares worth N351.338 million in 1,462 deals while consumer goods sector placed third with a turnover of 64.001 million shares worth N1.430 billion in 3,444 deals.

Low-priced equities were the most active. The three most active stocks were FBN Holdings Plc, United Bank For Africa Plc and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, which altogether accounted for 810.444 million shares worth N2.904 billion in 5,128 deals, representing 34.6 per cent and 19.64 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Also traded during the week were a total of 537,969 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N56.655 million executed in 43 deals, compared with a total of 307,411 units valued at N21.406 million traded in 38 deals in the previous week.

In the debt segment, a total of 4,000 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N4.438 million were traded in eight deals compared to a total of 4,143 units of Federal Government valued at N4.248 million also traded in eight deals in the previous week.

On the negative side, Learn Africa recorded the highest loss of 10.59 per cent to close at 76 kobo. Union Dicon Salt dropped by 9.87 per cent to N11.87. University Press declined by 9.61 per cent to N4.42. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria lost 8.56 per cent to close at N20.50 while AG Leventis dropped by 8.0 per cent to close at 92 kobo per share.

“This week, we retain our expectation for a mix of bargain hunting and profiteering as speculative investors rebalance their portfolios in favour of current double digit fixed income yields,” analysts at Cowry Asset Management stated.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities noted that the impressive gains recorded during the past week had been broadly driven by domestic investors taking position ahead of expectations of an increase in foreign participation.

“While we envisage the uptrend in the market to be sustained in the week ahead, we advise investors to trade cautiously as we await the details of the modalities for the currency market flexibility as guided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” Afrinvest Securities stated on the outlook for this week.

 

 

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