NSE LIVE! High-cap stocks lead equities to marginal gain despite selloff

Two in every three deals were closed at discount at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday but gains recorded by a handful of highly capitalised stocks rallied the overall market position to a net capital gain of N58 billion.

The All Share Index (ASI)-the common value-based index that tracks share prices at the NSE rose marginally by 0.38 per cent from its opening index of 41,987.74 points to close at 42,148.40 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also increased correspondingly from its opening value of N15.068 trillion to close at N15.126 trillion, representing a net capital gain of N58 billion. The modest gain raised the average year-to-date return to 10.21 per cent.

With 37 decliners to 18 advancers, the positive overall market position was driven mainly by gains recorded by highly capitalised stocks including Dangote Cement, Nestle Nigeria, United Bank for Africa (UBA), PZ Cussons Nigeria and Cadbury Nigeria. Nestle Nigeria-Nigeria’s highest-priced stock recorded the highest gain of N38.20 to close at N1, 380. Dangote Cement-the most capitalised quoted company followed with a gain of N8.70 to close at N260 per share. PZ Cussons Nigeria appreciated by N1.15 to close at N24.15. Cadbury Nigeria rose by 75 kobo to close at N15.85 while UBA added 20 kobo to close at N12.20 per share.

However, most sectoral indices closed in the red, underlining the widespread price depreciation as investors continued profit-taking transactions. The NSE Oil & Gas Index dropped by 1.3 per cent. The NSE Banking Index depreciated by 1.0 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index declined by 0.1 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index dropped by 0.4 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index-which includes Dangote Cement, played the contrarian with a gain of 1.6 per cent.

Other top advancers on Tuesday included Red Star Express, which rose by 25 kobo to close at N6; Eterna, which added 18 kobo to close at M5.85 per share and African Prudential and Dangote Flour Mills, which added 10 kobo each to close at N5.05 and N16 respectively.

Read also: NSE LIVE! Equities continue slide with N140bn loss

On the negative side, Total Nigeria led the decliners with a loss of N11.40 to close at N217.60. Conoil followed with a drop of N3.80 to close at N35.50. International Breweries declined by N2.95 to close at N56.05. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria lost N1.05 to close at N20.15. Nascon Allied Industries dropped by N1 to close at N20 per share. Nigerian Breweries declined by 90 kobo to close at N128. FBN Holdings dipped by 85 kobo to close at N10.85. Flour Mills of Nigeria lost 50 kobo to close at N32. Union Bank of Nigeria declined by 35 kobo to close at N7.15 while Unilever Nigeria dipped by 30 kobo to close at N48.70 per share.

Turnover volume and value rose by 77.7 per cent and 102.6 per centrespectively. Investors exchanged 510.28 million shares valued at N4.63 billion in 5,757 deals. FBN Holdings was the most active stock with a turnover of 115.51 million shares valued at N1.25 billion. Japaul Oil & Maritime Services followed with a turnover of 97.26 million shares worth N33.2 million while Diamond Bank placed third with a turnover of 41.39 million shares worth N103.13 million.

“Despite the positive performance recorded today (Tuesday), we observed sell-offs across banking stocks which could possibly be a knee-jerk reaction to the recently released guidelines from the CBN on Deposit Money Banks’ dividend pay-out; this might drag market performance in the trading session ahead. Nevertheless, our near-term market outlook remains positive as we approach the full-year 2017 earnings season,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

Analysts at FSDH Securities stated that the “market outlook remained positive with the possibility of a rebound as investors take advantage of low valuations”.

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