Bargain-Hunting Drives Nigerian Stocks Higher by 0.67%

By Dipo Olowookere

Normalcy was restored to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday after the previous day’s scare triggered by the alleged invasion of the headquarters of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the arrest of the Governor of the bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele, by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations bordering on terrorism financing and others.

The development forced some investors to reduce their exposure to Nigerian stocks, weakening the market by 0.31 per cent at the close of business on Monday.

However, news that the situation was under control and that President Muhammadu Buhari had allegedly asked the secret police to obey a court order, which stopped it from taking any action against the CBN chief, boosted the confidence of investors.

This triggered a bargain-hunting yesterday and raised the local bourse higher by 0.67 per cent when trading activities were wrapped up by 2:30 pm.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 352.49 points to 52,701.31 points from 52,348.82 points, and the market capitalisation gained N192 billion to close at N28.705 trillion, in contrast to the previous day’s N28.513 trillion.

Business Post observed that most of the sectors of the exchange performed better on Tuesday, as only the insurance counter closed lower by 0.08 per cent. The consumer goods space gained 0.53 per cent, the banking counter appreciated by 0.19 per cent, the energy index also grew by 0.19 per cent, and the industrial goods sector improved by 0.08 per cent.

A look at the activity chart showed that traders transacted 228.5 million shares worth N4.4 billion in 3,681 deals compared with the 221.9 million shares worth N3.3 billion traded in 5,219 deals on Monday, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 29.47 per cent, an improvement in the volume of trades by 2.99 per cent, and an increase in the value of transactions by 33.33 per cent.

Financial stocks were the most attractive to investors during the session, with Sterling Bank trading 76.7 million units and Chams transacting 17.6 million units. GTCO traded 16.8 million shares, Zenith Bank sold 11.3 million equities, and Royal Exchange transacted 10.7 million stocks.

Investor sentiment was strong yesterday, unlike in the preceding trading day, as the stock market ended with 21 appreciating equities and 15 depreciating equities, indicating a positive market breadth.

UPDC REIT topped the gainers’ chart after its value rose by 10.00 per cent to N3.30, MRS Oil increased by 9.93 per cent to N15.50, Chellarams rose by 9.92 per cent to N1.33, Sunu Assurances appreciated by 8.82 per cent to 37 Kobo, and McNichols grew by 7.02 per cent to 61 Kobo.

Conversely, UPDC topped the losers’ log as it fell by 6.93 per cent to 94 Kobo, Geregu Power dropped 6.71 per cent to N139.00, Linkage Assurance depreciated by 6.38 per cent to 44 Kobo, Royal Exchange declined by 5.26 per cent to 90 Kobo, and PZ Cussons went down by 5.21 per cent to N10.00.