Dangote Flour, Chams, 19 Others Empower Stock Market
Chams Plc, Dangote Flour Mills Plc and 19 other companies pushed the stock market higher on Tuesday reversing the losses recorded on Monday.
Investors gained N85.4bn as the market capitalisation of equities listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange increased from N11.078tn on Monday to N11.173tn on Tuesday, while the year-to-date return moderated to -5.4 per cent.
The All Share Index advanced by 0.85 per cent to settle at 29,746.24 basis points due to major price appreciation in Nestlé Nigeria Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc.
Activity level increased as volume and value traded rose by 43.4 per cent and 158 per cent to 321.357 million units and N4.657bn, respectively.
The top traded stocks by volume were Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (134.1 million units), GTB (61.1 million units) and African Alliance Insurance Plc (15 million units) while GTB (N2.2bn), Union Bank (N912.2m) and Dangote Cement Plc (N323.7m) were the top traded stocks by value.
Performance across sectors was largely positive as four out of five indices closed on a positive note.
The oil and gas index emerged as the lone laggard, dipping by 0.1 per cent due to sell-offs in Oando Plc.
On the flip side, the banking index led the gainers, up by 1.7 per cent on the back of continued bargain hunting on GTB and Zenith Bank.
The consumer goods index gained 1.2 per cent on the back of major gains recorded in Nestlé and Dangote Flour Mills.
Similarly, the insurance index appreciated by 0.7 per cent as Custodian Investment Plc and Linkage Assurance Plc witnessed buying interest.
The industrial goods index closed flat with a bullish bias, marginally gaining one basis point.
Investor sentiment strengthened to 2.1x from the 1.5x recorded on Monday as 21 stocks advanced against 10 decliners.
The top five gainers were Chams, Dangote Flour Mills, Transnationwide Express Plc, Africa Prudential Plc and Sterling Bank Plc with respective gains of 10 per cent, 9.78 per cent, 9.33 per cent, 8.01per cent and 5.38 per cent.
The top five losers were John Holt Plc, Royal Exchange Plc, AG Leventis Plc, May and Baker Nigeria Plc and International Breweries Plc, whose respective share prices shed 9.62 per cent, 8.70 per cent, 7.14 per cent, 5.26 per cent and 2.13 per cent.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said due to the positive sentiment in the equities market, they expected more sideways trading sessions.
They advised investors to continue guardedly hunting for bargains.
