Equities market commences new week positive, gains N155bn

Trading activities in the Nigerian equities market yesterday resumed the week on a positive note with a gain of N155 billion, driven by investors’ interest in Seplat Energy Plc and 26 stocks.

The All-Share Index rose by 282.69 points, representing a gain of 0.40 percent, to close at 70,479.62 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value gained N155 billion to close at N38.712 trillion.

The market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Seplat Energy, BUA Cement, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria, Oando and Fidelity Bank.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was mixed, as 27 stocks gained relative to 28 losers. Thomas Wyatt Nigeria recorded the highest price gain of 10 percent to close at N4.07, per share. Chams Holding Company followed with a gain of 9.90 percent to close at N2.22 and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria up by 9.68 percent to close at N13.60, per share.

Oando appreciated by 9.66 percent to close at N9.65, while Japaul Gold & Ventures gained 9.45 percent to close at N1.39, per share. On the other hand, Associated Bus Company led the losers’ chart by 9.30 percent to close at 78 kobo per share. Cornerstone Insurance followed with a decline of 9.27 percent to close at N1.37, while Champion Breweries lost 9.19 percent to close at N3.36, per share.

International Breweries declined 8.79 percent to close at N4.15, while DAAR Communications shed 8.70 percent to close at 21 kobo, per share.

The total volume traded declined by 4.7 percent to 391.01 million units, valued at N7.71 billion, and exchanged in 6,837 deals. Transactions in the shares of United Bank for Africa (UBA) topped the activity chart with 105.627 million shares valued at N2.138 billion. FBN Holdings (FBNH) followed with 33.268 million shares worth N602.499 million, while Japaul Gold & Ventures traded 21.348 million shares valued at N29.608 million.

Fidelity Bank traded 20.439 million shares valued at N175.965 million, while Access Holdings transacted 19.503 million shares worth N335.651 million.

This week, analysts at United Capital Plc said, “investors’ sentiments towards the Nigerian equities market would be mixed. We expect buy-interest to be driven by stocks with good performance in the Q3, 2023 earnings season.

“However, we anticipate pockets of profit-booking activity in the week. Also, as monetary authorities shift towards orthodox methods of monetary policy, the expected rise in the yield environment will likely draw investors to the safer fixed-income instruments.”