Equity Market Gains N56bn as Investors Pick Seplat, Others

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading session of the week at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited started on a positive note on Monday as the equity market appreciated by 0.20 per cent at the close of business at 2:30 pm.

The bullish performance was driven by the gains in the share prices of Seplat, GTCO, United Capital and others, increasing the market capitalisation by N56 billion to N28.214 trillion from N28.158 trillion as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 104.82 points to close the session at 52,319.94 points compared with the preceding session’s 52,215.12 points.

United Capital released its half-year earnings yesterday and investors were impressed with the company’s performance in the first six months of the year, causing a demand for the stocks in the market.

Seplat improved its equity price during the session by 10.00 per cent to settle at N1430.50, Cornerstone Insurance rose by 8.77 per cent to 62 Kobo, RT Briscoe chalked up 8.11 per cent to trade at 40 Kobo, Wema Bank expanded by 6.95 per cent to N4.00, while Fidson climbed higher by 5.21 per cent to N9.90.

Conversely, CWG was the heaviest price loser on Monday as its value went down by 10.00 per cent to 81 Kobo, Academy Press lost 9.50 per cent to close at N2.00, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.09 per cent to N2.50, NAHCO retreated by 8.81 per cent to N6.00, while Regency Assurance shrank by 7.41 per cent to 25 Kobo.

Business Post observed that despite the growth posted by the bourse yesterday, from the analysis of the price movement chart, investor sentiment was negative as there were 16 appreciating stocks and 22 depreciating stocks.

The market would have fallen during the session if not for the energy sector, which gained 4.02 per cent as a result of the positive performance of Seplat.

The consumer goods sector lost 0.64 per cent, the insurance space fell by 0.53 per cent, the banking index went down by 0.04 per cent, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.

Investors traded 116.3 million shares worth N3.5 billion in 4,525 deals during the session as against the 190.1 million shares worth N4.1 billion transacted in 3,893 deals last Friday, representing a decline in the trading volume and value by 38.83 per cent and 16.09 per cent respectively and a 16.23 per cent uptick in the number of deals.

UBA traded the highest volume of shares with the sale of 12.9 million units valued at N96.9 million, Zenith Bank sold 10.7 million units worth N235.7 million, FBN Holdings exchanged 8.2 million units worth N88.7 million, Access Holdings traded 6.7 million units valued at N62.7 million, while GTCO transacted 5.9 million units for N125.4 million.