Equities market up by 0.14% amid rallies in Oando, others

By Kayode Tokede

Activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) equities market sustained the upward trend on Wednesday with a gain of 0.14 per cent on bargain hunting in Oando Plc and 21 others.

Specifically, the All-Share Index improved further by 56.44 basis points or 0.14 per cent to close at 40,221.30 basis points against 40,164.86 basis points posted on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the month-to-date and year-to-date losses moderated to 5.2 per cent and 0.10 per cent, respectively.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation grew by N29 billion to close at N21.043 trillion from N21.014 trillion recorded on Tuesday.

Sector performances showed that while Oil & Gas (+0.79 per cent), Banking (+0.77 per cent) and Industrial (+0.22 per cent) sectors closed positively, Consumer Goods (-0.32 per cent) sector closed in the red.

The uptrend was also driven by price appreciation in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are Oando, Associated Bus Company, Japaul Gold and Ventures, Royal Exchange and Academy Press.

Market sentiment, as measured by market breadth, was positive with 22 gainers against 20 losers.

Oando dominated the gainers’ chart in percentage terms with 10 per cent to close at N3.41 per share.

Associated Bus Company followed with a growth of 9.38 per cent to close at 35k, while Japaul Gold rose by 9.23 per cent to close at 71k per share.

Royal Exchange garnered 8.70 per cent to close at 25k, while Academy Press appreciated by 7.89 per cent to close at 41k per share.

On the other hand, Lasaco Assurance led the laggards’ chart in percentage terms, losing 9.49 per cent to close at N1.24 per share.

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance trailed with 8.33 per cent to close at 33k, while Cornerstone Insurance shed 7.81 per cent to close at 59k per share. Flour Mills of Nigeria shed 6.94 per cent to close at N28.85, while Wapic Insurance depreciated by 6.90 per cent to close at 54k per share.

Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 154.62 million shares valued at N4.09 billion.

Guaranty Trust Bank followed with 48.79 million shares worth N1.53 billion, while FBN Holdings sold 25.27 million shares valued at N185.63 million.

Transcorp accounted for 25.14 million shares worth N23.42 million, while United Capital transacted 22.01 million shares worth N136.804 million.

In all, investors traded 469.56 million shares valued at N7.08 billion in 5,470 deals, indicating an increase of 38.94 per cent.

This was in contrast with a turnover of 337.96 million shares worth N3.85 billion exchanged in 5,232 deals on Tuesday.

Analysts at Investment One research stated that, “The equities market closed up today due to the gains recorded in most sectors.

“Going forward, we expect investor’s sentiments to be swayed by the search for real positive returns and developments in the interest rate space.

“We reiterate that this may be a great period to pick up some quality names with a medium to long-term investment horizon.”