Manufacturing Firms Drive NSE’s N163.8bn Gain
Manufacturing companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange have driven the performance of the bourse to a positive zone as investors recorded gains, totalling N163.8bn on Tuesday.
The market, which had sustained its bearish run, saw slight gains on Friday last week, after which it returned to its losing trend on Monday, shedding N54bn.
At the end of trading on Tuesday, the market capitalisation of equities listed on the Exchange increased from N13.553tn to N13.716tn as four sectors, led by the industrial goods sector, recorded positive performances.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said the positive market performance could be traced majorly to price appreciation in Dangote Cement Plc, Nestlé Nigeria Plc and Lafarge Africa Plc.
The industrial goods index recorded the highest gain at 3.9 per cent as investors took positions in Lafarge Africa and Dangote Cement.
The consumer goods index appreciated by 1.7 per cent on the back of buying interests in Nestlé, Cadbury Nigeria Plc and Dangote Flour Mills Plc.
The banking index gained 0.5 per cent as a result of buying interests in Union Bank Nigeria Plc and Zenith Bank Plc.
On the flip side, the oil and gas and the insurance indices depreciated by 0.7 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively, following sell pressures in Forte Oil Plc, Linkage Assurance Plc and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc.
Bargain hunting drove gains in the market as the All Share Index increased by 1.21 per cent to settle at 28,144.87 basis points.
Activity level weakened as both volume and value traded fell by 52.7 per cent and 6.8 per cent to settle at 274.206 million units and N2.844bn, respectively.
The top traded stocks by volume were Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (15.7 million units), Zenith Bank Plc (12.6 million units) and Lafarge Africa (12.2 million units) while the top traded stocks by value were GTB (N453.4m), Dangote Cement (N320.9m) and Zenith Bank (N232.7m).
Investor sentiment rose to 1.4x from 0.7x as 21 stocks gained against the 15 that lost.
The top five gainers were led by Neimeth Pharmaceuticals Plc, Lafarge Africa, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, Union Bank and Wapic Insurance Plc, which saw respective gains of 10 per cent, 9.92 per cent, 9.36 per cent, 6.20 per cent and 5.56 per cent.
The top five losers were Forte Oil, International Breweries Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Linkage Assurance Plc and Ikeja Hotel Plc, which depreciated by 9.93 per cent, 9.80 per cent, 9.09 per cent, 8.62 per cent and 8.22 per cent, respectively.
According to analysts at Afrinvest, bearish sentiments are expected to dominate activities in the market, though opportunities for bargain hunting exist.
