Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Against all odds, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) finished very strong in the year 2020, with the All-Share Index (ASI) hitting 40,270.72 points.
On the last trading session of the year, the market appreciated by 1.92 per cent on the back of gains printed by MTN Nigeria, BUA Cement and other stocks.
In the session, the benchmark index added 758.41 points to its previous value of 39,512.31 points as a result of the buying pressure on the blue-chip equities.
This resulted in an increase in the market capitalisation of the exchange by N397 billion to N21.057 trillion from N20.660 trillion.
When there was an outbreak of coronavirus early in the year, not many gave the local bourse the chance to perform well in the year. In fact, offshore investors had to pull out of the market for fear of the exchange crashing like in 2007/2008 global financial mess.
However, the exit of the foreign portfolio investors gave domestic investors a good opportunity to take charge of the market and it was good for the NSE at last.
On the last trading session of the year last Thursday, MTN Nigeria gained N9.90 to settle at N169.90 per share and was trailed by BUA Cement, which appreciated by N6.95 to close at N77.35 per unit.
BOC Gases rose by 87 kobo to finish at N9.57 per share, Northern Nigerian Flour Mills grew by 61 kobo to end at N6.74 per unit, while C&I Leasing gained 47 kobo to close at N5.20 per share.
Despite the positive performance of the market during the session, some shares performed badly, with Presco the worst as a result of the 85 kobo price decline it recorded, closing at N70.95 per share.
International Breweries lost 54 kobo to finish at N5.95 per unit, Eterna fell by 51 kobo to end at N5.10 per share, Ecobank depleted by 50 kobo to sell at N6 per unit, while Dangote Sugar lost 30 kobo to close at N17.60 per share.
On the activity chart, a total of 710.7 million shares worth N10.1 billion exchanged hands in 4,396 deals compared with the 372.9 million stocks valued at N11.5 billion transacted a day earlier in 5,186 deals, indicating a rising in the trading volume by 90.57 per cent, a decline in the trading value by 12.35 per cent and a slump in the number of deals by 15.23 per cent.
AIICO Insurance closed as the most active stock by volume with the sale of 206.0 million shares valued at N234.2 million, while Access Bank traded 99.7 million stocks worth N898.6 million.
Japaul sold 85.7 million units worth N49.6 million, FBN Holdings transacted 48.3 million equities valued at N342.9 million, while Zenith Bank exchanged 44.0 million shares for N1.1 billion.
On a sectoral level, only the industrial goods and energy sectors closed the last trading session of the year positive, rising by 3.90 per cent and 0.65 per cent respectively.
The banking space lost 0.89 per cent, the consumer goods counter depreciated by 0.80 per cent, while the insurance sector went down by 0.41 per cent when market activities were closed at 12:30pm because of the public holiday the next day for New Year celebration.
