Equities hit five-year high with N708b gains
Nigerian equities yesterday broke all limits to hit their highest gain in more than five and a half years as intense bargain-hunting for value and growth stocks saw the market with net capital gain of N708 billion.
With nearly six advancers for every decliner, average price gain at the stock market surged to 4.92 per cent, the highest daily gain since March 2015. Average year-to-date return jumped to 7.7 per cent, putting equities’ investors comfortably ahead of most fixed-income securities.
Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose from its opening value of N14.402 trillion to hit N15.110 trillion, representing net capital gain of N708 billion in a single trading session.
The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based common index that tracks share prices at the NSE also rose from its opening index of 27,554.49 points to close at 28,909.37 points.
Market analysts attributed the continuing upswing to sustained buy interest in several companies, especially large-cap stocks in major sectors of the economy.
“We expect the rally in the equities market to continue in the next trading session, with strong buy interest mainly in low-priced bellwethers and high dividend yielding stocks,” Afrinvest Securities stated.
The momentum of activities also improved considerably as turnover volume and value rose by 24.1 per cent and 27.9 per cent to 749.5 million shares valued at N9.5 billion in 8075 deals. Banks dominated the activities chart with Zenith Bank leading with a turnover of 135.7 million shares. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with a turnover of 112.9 million shares while FBN Holdings placed third with 89.9 million shares.
With 45 advancers to eight decliners, all sectoral indices closed positive, underlining the market-wide positive sentiment driving share trading in recent period. The NSE Banking Index appreciated by 7.5 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index rose by 5.6 per cent.
The NSE Consumer Goods Index chalked up 3.0 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 1.2 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index posted average gain of 0.3 per cent.
According to analysts at Cordros Securities, bargain buying of large-cap stocks continued yesterday as investors continue to seek real returns, amidst abysmal fixed income yields.
Nigeria’s most capitalised quoted company, Dangote Cement led the rally with a gain of N14.20 to close at N158.20. MTN Nigeria Communications followed with a gain of N7.70 to close at N142.70. Presco rose by N5.50 to close at N60.50. Nigerian Breweries added N3.50 to close at N52.30 while Stanbic IBTC Holdings appreciated by N2 to close at N42.50.
On the negative side, Berger Paints Nigeria led the decliners with a drop of 40 kobo to close at N6.10. NPF Microfinance Bank dropped by 12 kobo to close at N1.25 while Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals declined by 10 kobo to close at N1.85 per share.
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