Equities’ return hits 40.32% amidst sustained rally

The rally at the Nigerian equities market gathered momentum on Wednesday with four advancers for every decliner in a bullish market that nudged the average year-to-date return at the equities market to 40.32 per cent.

Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed widespread bargain-hunting across the sectors and stock groups. Average day-on-day gain for the five hours of trading on Wednesday stood at 0.55 per cent, equivalent to net capital gain of N72 billion.

With 32 advancers to eight decliners, aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from its opening value of N13.061 trillion to close at N13.133 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the main index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, also rallied to close at 37,709.20 points as against its opening index of 37,503.73 points.

All major sectoral indices also closed on the upside, with the exception of the NSE Industrial Goods Index, which declined by 0.7 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index rose by 1.4 per cent. The NSE Banking Index followed with a gain of 1.1 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 1.0 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index inched up by 0.3 per cent.

Nestle Nigeria-Nigeria’s highest-priced stock, led the rally with a gain of N25 to close at N1,315. Forte Oil followed with a gain of N2.05 to close at N43.20. Unilever Nigeria rose by N1.79 to close at N41.89. UAC of Nigeria added 60 kobo to close at N17.50. Cadbury Nigeria chalked up 58 kobo to close at N12.33 while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated garnered 52 kobo to close at N16.98 per share.

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Total turnover stood at 441 million shares valued at N4.09 billion in 4,263 deals. The most active stocks were Wapic Insurance, with 76.98 million shares; Fidelity Bank, with 60.39 million shares and Tantalizer, which recorded a turnover of 43.99 million shares.

On the downside, Mobil Oil Nigeria led the decliners with a loss of N2.85 to close at N159.65. Lafarge Africa followed with a drop of N1 to close at N49. PZ Cussons Nigeria declined by 47 kobo to close at N22.25. Nascon Allied Industries lost 25 kobo to close at N15.35 while Stanbic IBTC Holdings dipped by 5.0 kobo to close at N41.80 per share.

“Following the day (Wednesday)’s positive performance and improved investor sentiment, we expect market performance in subsequent trading sessions to remain positive following increased buying interest in small and mid-cap stocks,” Afrinvest Securities-a Lagos-based dealer at the Exchange, stated.
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