Equities Rally N261bn In Four Days In 2 Weeks
Nigeria equities recorded their biggest rally in two months last week as increased bargain-hunting for quoted shares added N261 billion to market value of quoted companies.
Average return stood at 2.04 per cent last week, driven mainly by scurry for banking shares, which posted average return of 6.77 per cent. The negative average year-to-date return improved to -14.57 per cent.
With nearly four advancers to every decliner, aggregate market value of all quoted equities crossed the N13 trillion mark to N13.071 trillion at the weekend compared with its week’s opening value of N12.810 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)- the common value-based index that tracks share prices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) also rose from its opening index of 26,314.49 points to close weekend at 26,851.68 points.
The positive performance came on the heels of Central of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s recent policies on fixed income securities and increasing decline in yields.
Analysts at Cordros Securities said the limited outlet for investments due to the CBN’s recent policy directives was a force behind the market.
“We expect that the market might continue to benefit over the short-term especially in the face of lower yields in the fixed income market,” Cordros Securities stated.
Analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited noted that with the yield on fixed income investments becoming less attractive, more funds will flow into equities market.
Total turnover during the four-day trading session stood at 2.084 billion shares worth N33.867 billion in 21,849 deals last week compared with a total of 2.063 billion shares valued at N18.431 billion traded in 16,778 deals two weeks ago.
The financial services sector continued to lead activity chart with a turnover of 1.705 billion shares valued at N21.555 billion in 15,395 deals; representing 81.84 per cent and 63.65 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The consumer goods sector followed with 188.870 million shares worth N7.445 billion in 1,989 deals while the conglomerate sector placed third with a turnover of 82.675 million shares worth N128.662 million in 691 deals.
Banking stocks dominated the activities chart. The trio of Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc were the three most active stocks, accounting for 1.210 billion shares worth N17.048 billion in 7,031 deals, representing 58.09 per cent and 50.34 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Most sectoral indices closed on the upside. The NSE Banking Index led with average gain of 6.77 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index followed with a gain of 3.24 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 2.55 per cent. However, the NSE Oil & Gas Index declined by 1.76 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index slipped by 0.56 per cent.
There were 39 gainers against 11 losers. Wema Bank led the gainers, in percentage terms, with a gain of 28.81 per cent to close at 76 kobo per share. Cornerstone Insurance followed with a gain of 26.53 per cent to close at 62 kobo while Guinness Nigeria rose by 22.75 per cent to close at N28.60 per share.
On the negative side, Total Nigeria led the losers with a drop of 9.98 per cent to close at N110.90 per share. Learn Africa followed with a loss of 9.40 per cent to close at N1.06 while Unilever Nigeria declined by 5.61 per cent to close at N18.50, per share.
