Equities cross N16tr mark with N133b gain – Nigerian equities crossed the N16 trillion mark to market capitalisation of N16.064 trillion yesterday after a major rally by Dangote Cement roused the market to net capital gain of N133 billion.
Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed yesterday at N16.064 trillion from its opening value of N15.931 trillion, representing an increase of N133 billion.
The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the Exchange rose by 0.8 per cent from its opening index of 30,479.39 points to close at 30,733.47 points. With this, the average year-to-date return rallied to 14.5 per cent.
The positive overall market position was driven by considerable bargain-hunting across the sectors, especially on Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s most capitalised quoted company.
With 24 advancers against 18 decliners, most sectoral indices closed positive. The NSE Industrial Goods Index, where Dangote Cement is listed, led the rally with average return of 2.9 per cent. The NSE Oil and Gas Index appreciated by 0.6 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index rose by 0.3 per cent. On the negative side, the NSE Banking Index dropped by 0.5 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index slipped by 0.1 per cent.
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Dangote Cement led the rally with a gain of N9 to close at N169. CAP followed with a gain of N1.95 to close at N22.30. Vitafoam Nigeria rose by 35 kobo to close at N6.75 while Dangote Sugar Refinery added 25 kobo to close at N15.40 per share.
On the negative side, Guaranty Trust bank and Stanbic IBTC Holdings led the losers’ chart with a drop of 50 kobo each to close at N32 and N46 respectively. Flour Mills of Nigeria, Guinness Nigeria and Custodian Investment dropped by 45 kobo each to close at N28.40, N16.55 and N5.60 respectively while Unilever Nigeria and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria lost 20 kobo each to close at N13.70 and N6 respectively.
Total turnover stood at 336.09 million shares valued at N3.89 billion in 5,575 deals. Zenith Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 41.10 million shares valued at N895.65 million.
“We expect market sentiment to be guided by bargain hunting opportunities and earnings results,” Afrinvest Securities stated.