The bulls strengthened their hold on the equity sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as more bluechip stocks appreciated in price, causing the All-share index to rise further by 0.4 per cent.Yesterday, the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) closed above the 30,000 basis points (bps) after 11 consecutive days of hovering within the 29,000 bps region. It gained 115.45 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.39 per cent to close at 30,086.31 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation gained N44 billion to close at N11.301 trillion.
The bullish performance can be attributed to gains in the shares of Dangote Cement, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), Unilever Nigeria, Dangote Flour Mills, and Chemical and Allied Products (CAP). Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited, noted that, “Whilst some positive earnings releases, as well as downbeat prices in value stocks appear to drive investor interest, it is worth stating that the absence of a positive trigger continues to dampen our outlook for equity in the short-to-medium term. However, strengthening macro-economic variables remain supportive of long-term gains.”
Also analysts at APT Securities and Funds Limited, said the equity market is set for a rebound as more up days progress, while urging investors to take advantage of fundamentally justified stocks that have shed weight over the down days. Market breadth closed positive, with 26 gainers versus 13 losers. Royal Exchange recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at 22 kobo, while Livestock Feeds, and Chams followed with a gain of 9.09 per cent each to close at 60 kobo and 36 kobo, per share, respectively.
Also, First Aluminium gained 7.89 per cent to close at 41 kobo, while AXA Mansard Insurance appreciated by 5.26 per cent to close at N2, per share. On the other hand, C&I Leasing led the losers’ chart with 9.89 per cent to close at N7.20 kobo. United Capital followed with 9.82 per cent to close at N2.48, per share.
Berger Paints fell 9.19 per cent to close at N8.40, while Julius Berger and Vitafoam Nigeria each lost 9.09 per cent to close at N25 and N3.50 per share, respectively.
The total volume traded rose by 5.08 per cent to 226.98 million shares worth N1.74 billion, traded in 3,399 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with 58.4 million shares valued at N403.4 million.Zenith Bank followed with 27.42 million shares worth N574.59 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 15.98 million shares valued at N104.75 million. Chams traded 13.84 million shares worth N4.98 million, while United Capital transacted 12.99 million shares for N33.01 million.
