Equities Sustain Recovery With N224b Gain
Taofik Salako Deputy Group Business Editor, The Nation
NIGERIAN equities sustained a second day of consecutive rally as bargain-hunters opened up orders at higher prices to attract deals in several mid and large-cap stocks.
The benchmark index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated average gain of 1.3 per cent yesterday, equivalent to net capital gain of N224 billion. This nudged the average year-to-date return to 29.5 per cent.
The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the NSE, rose from its opening index of 34,340.56 point to close at 34,769.00 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also rose from its opening value of N17.943 trillion to close at N18.167 trillion.
With 37 gainers to 11 losers, all sectoral indices closed positive with the exception of the NSE Oil and Gas Index, which dropped by 0.6 per cent. The NSE Banking Index and NSE Industrial Goods Index rose by 1.6 per cent each. The NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 1.4 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index improved by 0.7 per cent.
Airtel Africa led the advancers with a gain of N10 to close at N535. Dangote Cement followed with a gain of N5.20 to close at N205. Flour Mills of Nigeria rallied N2.50 to close at N27.90. Julius Berger Nigeria added N1.20 to close at N18.50 while Dangote Sugar Refinery chalked up N1.15 to close at N20.65 per share.
On the downside, CAP led the decliners with a drop of 65 kobo to close at N21.50. International Breweries followed with a drop of 40 kobo to close at N6.55. Oando lost 19 kobo to close at N2.71 while Union Bank of Nigeria declined by 10 kobo to close at N5.80 per share.
The momentum of activities also improved as turnover rose by 19 per cent to 434.92 million shares valued at N6.91 billion in 7,029 deals. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria was the most active stock with a turnover of 84.50 million shares. Zenith Bank followed with a turnover of 59.2 million shares while Access Bank placed third with 29.9 million shares.
“In the next trading session, we expect the market to close positive as equities continue to present attractive opportunities,” Afrinvest Securities stated.
– The Nation
