Dangote Cement, others drive equities market by N328bn

By Kayode Tokede

The equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed trading activities on Thursday on a bullish note by N328 billion ahead of the Independence holiday, to extend the positive sentiment to two consecutive trading days.

The market positive performance for yesterday can be attributed to investor’s increased buying interest in the Industrial sector.

The NGX All Share Index (ASI) increased by 628.88 basis points, representing a growth of 1.59 per cent to close at 40,221.17 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation gained N328 billion  to close at N20.956 trillion.

Sector performances were negative today with the Banking (-0.30 per cent), Consumer Goods (-0.13 per cent) and Oil and Gas Sector (-0.12 per cent) sectors closing negatively, while positive performance was recorded in the Industrial (+4.08 per cent).

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, Presco, Okomu Oil, Nigerian Breweries and May and Baker Nigeria.

Furthermore, the market breadth closed positive, recording 20 gainers as against 14 losers. University Press recorded the highest price gain of 9.82 per cent to close at N913.20, per share. Pharma Deko followed with a gain 9.81 per cent to close at N2.35, while May and Baker Nigeria appreciated  by 9.17 per cent to close at N4.88, per share.

Sovereign Trust Insurance went up by 9.09 per cent to close at 24 kobo, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance appreciated by 7.55 per cent to close at 57 kobo,  per share. On the other hand, Chams led the losers’ chart by 8.70 per cent to close at 21 kobo, per share. AXA Mansard Insurance followed with a decline of 4.12 per cent to close at N2.33, while Jaiz Bank shed 3.23 per cent to close at 60 kobo, per share.

Livestock Feeds shed 2.69 per cent to close at N2.17, while Japaul Gold and Ventures and Unilever Nigeria depreciated by 2.22 per cent each, to close at 44 kobo and N13.20 respectively, per share.

The total volume traded increased by 120.89 per cent to 1.047 billion shares, worth N7.421 billion, and traded in 3,752 deals. Transactions in the shares of transcorp Hotels topped the activity chart with 763.899 million shares valued at N2.872 billion. FBN Holdings (FBN) followed with 53.764 million shares worth N430.464 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 23.311 million shares valued at N22.195 million.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company traded 19.418 million shares valued at N544.349 million, while Wapic Insurance transacted 18.271 million shares worth N8.772 million.

According to analysts at investment one research, “The equities market closed up today due to the gains recorded in the Industrial sector.

“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.”