Equities market on NGX gains 0.01% on Thursday

By Kayode Tokede

The equities market of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday closed marginally positive by 0.01 per cent, extending the bullish sentiment to five consecutive trading sessions.

The upward trend was sustained, following buy-interest in oil and gas sector. The Oil and Gas index advanced 0.2 per cent following a price uptick in Oando.

In summary, the All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 3.46 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.01 per cent to close at 39,131.80 points. While the overall market capitalization value gained N1 billion to close at N20.479 trillion.

Sector performance was mixed on Thursday with the Oil and Gas sector (+0.21 per cent) closing up today while Banking (-0.04per cent) and Consumer Goods (-0.01 per cent) sectors closed negative. The Industrial sector closed flat.

The market gain was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; PZ Cussons Nigeria, United Bank for Africa (UBA), UAC of Nigeria (UACN), Cutix and Oando.

Consequently, the market breadth closed positive, recording 17 gainers and 15 losers. Cutix recorded the highest price gain of seven per cent to close at N2.14, per share. PZ Cussons Nigeria followed with a gain 6.93 per cent to close at N5.40, while Linkage Asurance up by five  per cent to close at 84 kobo, per share.

Courteville Business Solutions rose by 4.35 per cent to close at 24 kobo, while Oando appreciated by 3.96 per cent to close at N3.15, per share. On the other hand, EkoCorp Plc led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, to close at N5.40, per share. SUNU Assurances followed with a decline of 9.09 per cent, to close at 60 kobo, while Honeywell Flour Mill decreased by 8.45 per cent to close at N1.30, per share.

Sovereign Trust Insurance shed eight per cent to close at 23 kobo, while Unity Bank  depreciated by 6.78 per cent to close at 55 kobo, per share.

However, the total volume of trades fell  by 4.6 per cent to 228.112 million units, valued at N2.636 billion, and exchanged in 3,656 deals. Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank topped the activity chart with 37.290 million shares valued at N1.162 billion. Zenith Bank followed with 28.750 million shares worth N635.259 million, while FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 22.313 million shares valued at N164.877 million.

Fidelity Bank traded 17.546 million shares valued at N39.04 million, while UBA transacted 15.053 million shares worth N109.63 million.

According to analysts at Investment One research, “The equities market closed up today due to the gains recorded in the Oil and Gas 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.”

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said “We expect the market to close positive for the week.”