By Kayode Tokede
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) market capitalization opened trading for the week on Monday on a positive note, gainingN3 billion.
The market capitalisation increased by three billion to close at N13.161 trillion against N13.158 trillion on Friday.
Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 7.25 basis points or 0.03 per cent close at 25,229.12 basis points compared with 25,221.87 basis points achieved on Friday.
On sectors, performance was mixed following gains in the Insurance (+0.8 per cent) and Consumer Goods (+0.7 per cent) indices, and losses in the Industrial Goods (-0.1 per cent) and Banking (-0.01 per cent) indices. The Oil & Gas index was flat.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Unilever, Guinness, PZ Cussons, International Breweries and University Press.
Analysts at Investmentone research explained that, “The equities market closed up today on the back of the gain recorded in the Consumer Goods sector.
“While we expect that investor sentiments would largely be driven by reactions to H1 2020 results in the near term, we reiterate that this may be one of the best periods to pick up some quality names with a medium to long term investment horizon.”
Market sentiment, as measured by the market breadth, was flat with15 gainers as well as 15 losers.
University Press led the gainers’ chart in percentage terms, growing by 9.68 per cent to close at N1.36 per share.
Unity Bank came second with 9.62 per cent to close at 57k, while Regency Alliance Insurance rose by 9.09 per cent to close at 24k per share.
Champion Breweries appreciated by 8.97 per cent to close at 85k, while Cornerstone Insurance garnered 8.62 per cent to close at 63k per share.
Conversely, Transcorp led the losers’ chart in percentage terms, dropping by 8.20 per cent to close at 56k per share.
Royal Exchange followed with a loss of 7.69 per cent to close at 24k, while Jaiz Bank declined by five per cent to close at 57k per share.
NPF Microfinance Bank dipped 4.69 per cent to close at N1.22, while Presco shed 3.92 per cent to close at N49 per share.
Also, the total volume of shares traded increased by 58.36 per cent with an exchange of 251.19 million shares worth N2.36 billion in 3,737 deals.
This was in contrast with a total of 158.62 million shares valued at N1.75 billion achieved in 3,194 deals on Friday.
Transactions in the shares of Transcorp topped the activity chart with 75.06 million shares worth N42.16 billion.
Zenith Bank followed with 45.46 million shares valued at N767.61million, while Guaranty Trust Bank traded 12.93 million shares worth N325.22 million.
FBN Holdings sold 12.02 million shares valued at N60.13 million, while Presco transacted 11.55 million shares worth N566.21 million.
