Nigeria’s two largest quoted companies-Dangote Cement Plc and MTN Nigeria Communications Plc led the equities market to a net capital gain of N221 billion yesterday, sustaining the bullish streak that started with the listing of MTN Nigeria last Thursday.
For the third consecutive trading session, MTN Nigeria continued atop the gainers’ list at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), rising by the maximum daily allowable change of 10 per cent. MTN Nigeria recorded the highest gain of N10.85 to close yesterday at N119.75 per share. MTN Nigeria, which was listed by way of introduction at N90 per share last Thursday, has been rising by the maximum allowable price change of 10 per cent since Thursday.
The momentum of trading on the telco stock also widened considerably as it emerged the most active stock. MTN Nigeria led the activities’ chart with a turnover of 51.40 million shares valued at N6.16 billion in 61 deals. The current market value increased MTN Nigeria’s market value to N2.437 trillion, N607 billion net capital gains on the telco’s entry value of N1.83 trillion on Thursday. MTN Nigeria had on Thursday listed by way of introduction 20.35 billion ordinary shares at N90 per share to emerge the second most capitalised company at the Nigerian stock market.
Dangote Cement, NSE’s most capitalised stock recorded the second highest gain of N2 to close at N178 per share. The gains by both MTN Nigeria and Dangote Cement overshadowed the tepid underlying pricing trend at the Exchange. With 20 losers against 17 gainers, most sectoral indices still closed negative despite the positive overall performance.
Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from its opening value of N12.717 trillion to close at N12.938 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)- the benchmark index that tracks share prices at the Exchange, also increased by 1.74 per cent to close at 29,373.40 points compared with its opening index of 28,871.93 points. With these, average year-to-date return, though still negative, improved to -6.54 per cent.
Most sectoral indices closed negative, underscoring the influence of the large-cap stocks on the overall market position. The NSE Oil & Gas Index dipped by 1.11 per cent. The NSE Banking Index declined by 1.08 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index dropped by 0.04 per cent. On the upside, the NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 0.04 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index rose by 1.8 per cent.
Other top gainers include Guinness Nigeria, which rose by N1.45 to close at N50.50. Dangote Flour Mills added 20 kobo to close at N16.35 while NEM Insurance chalked up 16 kobo to close at N2.36 per share.
On the downside, Forte Oil led the losers’ list with a drop of N2.80 to close at N25.55. Access Bank dropped by 35 kobo to close at N6.10 while Lafarge Africa declined by 30 kobo to close at N10.20.
Total turnover stood at 214.42 million shares valued at N7.93 billion in 4,644 deals. FBN Holdings was the second most active stock with 17.46 million shares worth N122.25 million while United Bank for Africa (UBA) placed third with 17.20 million shares valued at N103.19 million.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities said they expected the bullish run by MTN Nigeria to continue to impact positively on the overall market position.
“In the absence of a positive catalyst, we guide investors to trade cautiously in the short term. However, stable macroeconomic fundamentals and compelling valuation remain supportive of recovery in the mid-to-long term,” Cordros Capital stated, underscoring the fragile pricing situation.
