Nigerian Stock Exchange Capitalization Rises by N83 billion amid Bargain Hunting

ASI down by 3.12 percent
Bargain hunting embarked by investors on highly capitalised stocks, pushed transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in an upbeat yesterday, causing market capitalisation to rise further by N83 billion.

Specifically, at the close of transactions yesterday, the ASI gained 228.63 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.69 per cent to close at 33,191.45 points. Similarly, market capitalisation rose by N83 billion to close at N12.117 trillion.

The upturn was significantly impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Dangote Cement, FBN Holdings, Dangote Flour, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp).

Analysts at Cordros Capital said: “our outlook for equities in the short to medium term remains conservative, amidst brewing political concerns, and the absence of a positive catalyst. However, stable macro-economic fundamentals remain supportive of recovery in the long term.”

However, market breadth was negative, with 14 gainers versus 19 losers. Transcorp recorded the highest price gain of 9.60 per cent, to close at N1.37 per share. Honeywell Flour followed with a gain of 4.35 per cent to close at N1.20, while FBN Holdings gained by 4.32 per cent to close at N9.65 per share.

Wema Bank went up by 3.33 per cent to close at 62 kobo, while Diamond Bank appreciated by 3.25 per cent to close at N1.27 per share.

On the other hand, First Aluminium led the losers’ chart by 9.09 per cent, to close at 30 kobo per share. PZ Cussons followed with a loss of 7.66 per cent to close at N11.45, while McNichols shed 7.41 per cent to close at 50 kobo per share.

Niger Insurance depreciated by 7.14 per cent to close at 26 kobo and Ecobank Transnational Corporation (ETI) declined by 5.04 per cent to close at N16 per share.Total volume traded depreciated by 28.2 per cent to 185.19 million shares, worth N2.35 billion, and traded in 3,180 deals.

Transactions in the shares of FCMB Groups topped the activity chart with 27.55 million shares worth N42.8 million. Transcorp followed with account of 24.87 million shares valued at N31.95 million; while Guaranty Trust Bank traded 15.18 million shares cost N553.94 million.

Access Bank traded 14.79 million shares valued at N118.75 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) sold 14.42 million shares worth N115.6 million.

Leave a Reply