NSE LIVE! Investors jostle for penny stocks as equities sustain rally

Low-priced equities, otherwise known as penny stocks, dominated activities on Tuesday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as quoted equities continued their rally for the third consecutive trading session.

Low-priced stocks made up 80 per cent of the top 10 most active stocks as investors stepped up demand for shares as quoted companies prepare to release their audited reports and dividend recommendation.

Investors upped stakes on equities to N7.43 billion on 876.98 million shares in 8,780 deals, representing 53 per cent and 26.4 per cent in volume and value of activities respectively.

Transnational Corporation of Nigeria was the most active stock with a turnover of 160.99 million shares worth N393.74 million. Diamond Bank followed with a turnover of 99.86 million shares valued at N318.39 million. Skye Bank placed third with a turnover of 93.62 million shares worth N141.31 million. Honeywell Flour Mills recorded a turnover of 87.18 million shares valued at N260.88 million while FCMB Group ranked fifth with a turnover of 74.05 million shares worth N240.88 million.

The stock market remained bullish as benchmark indices showed average return of 0.42 per cent, representing net capital gain of N67 billion. With this, the average year-to-date return at the equities market rose to 16.34 per cent.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks share prices at the Exchange rose from its opening index of 44,306.48 points to close at 44,493.79 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also increased from its opening value of N15.883 trillion to close higher at N15.950 trillion.

With 34 advancers against 24 decliners, most sectoral indices also followed the positive overall market situation. The NSE Insurance Index led with above average gain of 0.7 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index appreciated by 0.6 per cent while the NSE Banking Index rose by 0.5 per cent. On the downside, the NSE Oil & Gas Index declined by 0.6 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index slipped by 0.3 per cent.

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Guinness Nigeria led the advancers with a gain of N3 to close at N113. Beta Glass followed with a gain of N2.95 to close at N62.35. Dangote Cement rose by N2 to close at N270. Presco and Stanbic IBTC Holdings added N1 each to close at N71 and N46 respectively. Cadbury Nigeria rose by 50 kobo to close at N15.80 while Dangote Flour Mills appreciated by 30 kobo to close at N16.40 per share.

On the downside, Nestle Nigeria led the decliners with a loss of N30 to close at N1,470. Seplat Petroleum Development Company followed with a drop of N7.60 to close at N685. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria lost 40 kobo to close at N17.60. Unilever Nigeria dropped by 30 kobo to close at N44.20 while Newrest ASL dropped by 25 kobo to close at N5.35 per share.

“The equity market closed positive, characterised by a mix of profit taking in some stocks and renewed buying interest in other stocks, particularly the lower-cap banking stocks. The market is likely to experience volatility in tomorrow’s session as portfolio managers rebalance their portfolios to end the month,” FSDH Securities stated.

“In the near term, we expect performance to remain largely positive as the earnings season draws closer,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities stated.

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