Nigerian Equities March Forward by 0.33%

By Dipo Olowookere

The bulls took control of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, which doubled as the first trading session of the new week and month.

By the time activities were wrapped up for the day, Nigerian equities were up by 0.33 per cent as a result of a renewed buying interest, especially on the back of more positive earnings from quoted firms.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 131.74 points to 39,931.63 points from 39,799.89 points, while the market capitalisation went up by N68 billion to N20.892 trillion from N20.824 trillion.

A total of 544.0 million stocks worth N1.9 billion were traded in 4,673 deals on Monday compared with the 507.2 million shares worth N2.4 billion transacted in 4,465 deals last Friday.

This showed that the trading value depreciated by 22.70 per cent, while the trading volume and the number of deals increased by 7.24 per cent and 4.66 per cent respectively.

For another trading session, Wema Bank was the most traded stock at the exchange with the sale of 369.7 million units valued at N240.3 million.

Zenith Bank transacted 20.6 million stocks for N529.1 million, Transcorp exchanged 13.0 million equities worth N11.5 million, UBA traded 11.9 million shares for N98.7 million, while United Capital exchanged 11.3 million stocks for N69.2 million.

Business Post reports that investor sentiment was negative at 0.41x on Monday as the market recorded 12 price gainers and 29 price losers.

NASCON closed as the heaviest price loser with a 9.97 per cent loss to close at N14.45 per unit and was trailed by Champion Breweries, which fell by 9.92 per cent to close at N2.27 per share.

PZ Cussons depreciated by 9.43 per cent to sell for N4.80 per unit, Lasaco Assurance dropped 8.94 per cent to quote at N1.12 per share, while Sovereign Trust Insurance declined by 7.41 per cent to finish at 25 kobo per unit.

The biggest price riser yesterday was UAC Nigeria as its equity price went up by 6.67 per cent to N8 per unit, while AIICO Insurance, which trailed, gained 5.22 per cent to settle at N1.21 per share.

Veritas Kapital appreciated by 5.00 per cent to 21 kobo per unit, BUA Cement grew by 3.82 per cent to N74.75 per share, while Neimeth gained 2.73 per cent to settle at N1.88 per unit.

For the sectors, the industrial goods and banking counters appreciated yesterday by 1.47 per cent and 0.25 per cent respectively, while the insurance, consumer goods and energy sectors lost 1.10 per cent, 0.48 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.