NSE LIVE! Equities sustain rally with N46bn gain

Nigerian equities continued on the uptrend on Thursday as more quoted companies submitted their first quarter report, showing mostly steady performance.

The benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated average gain of 0.52 per cent, equivalent to a net capital gain of N46 billion on Thursday.

Large-cap stocks in the banking, consumer goods and industrial goods sectors headlined the rally with Nestle Nigeria, the highest-priced stock at the Exchange, leading with a gain of N12 to close at N725.50 per share.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from its opening value of N8.865 trillion to close at N8.911 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI) also rose from 25,620.94 points to close at 25,753.00 points. Average year-to-date return now stands at -4.17 per cent.

Sectoral indices showed mixed performance. The NSE Banking Index rose by 1.7 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 0.1 per cent. However, the NSE Industrial Goods Index declined by 2.5 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index dropped by 0.6 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index declined by 0.1 per cent.

There were 22 gainers to 15 losers. Stanbic IBTC Holdings followed Nestle Nigeria on the gainers’ list with a gain of N1.58 to close at N25. Dangote Cement rose by n1 to close at N160. Guaranty Trust Bank gathered 58 kobo to close at N26.63. UAC of Nigeria rose by 47 kobo to close at N14.47. Nascon Allied Industries chalked up 36 kobo to close at N7.71 while Zenith Bank and Access Bank added 18 kobo each to close at N14.80 and N5.61 per share.

Total turnover stood at 371.76 million shares valued at N2.81 billion in 3,627 deals. Access Bank was the most active stock with 104.6 million shares valued at N658.23 million. Fidelity Bank followed with 33.66 million shares worth N27.71 million while Guaranty Trust Bank placed third with 30.68 million shares valued at N829.04 million.

On the negative side, Unilever Nigeria led the losers with a loss of N3.45 to close at N32.05. Lafarge Africa followed with a drop of N3 to close at N48.50. Okomu Oil Palm declined by 95 kobo to N47.05. Dangote Flour Mills dropped by 19 kobo to close at N4.09 while Africa Prudential slipped by 13 kobo to close at N2.57 per share.

“We opine that the current positive vibe in the equities market is broadly linked to impressive first quarter 2017 results of corporates as well as expectations of improved participation by foreign players following the launch of the investors and exporters’ window by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the start of the week,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities stated.

Analysts said they expected the momentum of trading to be sustained if outstanding first quarter earnings are as strong as expected, particularly Dangote Cement’s result, which is due to be released on Friday.

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