Stock: Market Extends Gain With N106bn
Trading activities on the equity market on Tuesday further closed upbeat as investors continued to take position on blue-chip stocks in anticipation of a fair third-quarter results.
The key market performance measures, the NSE All-Share Index rose by 0.70 per cent as market breath closed positive with 46 gainers against two losers.
Consequently, the All-Share Index gained 202.33 basis points or 0.70 per cent to close at 28.980 as against 28.777 recorded the previous day.
The market capitalisation of equities appreciated by N106bn to close at N15.15tn from N15.04tn as market sentiment remained on the green zone.
Meanwhile, a turnover of 385.59m shares exchanged in 5,283 deals was recorded in the day’s trading.
The premium sub-sector was the most active (measured by turnover volume); with 179.97million shares exchanged by investors in 1,720 deals.
The volume in the sub-sector was largely driven by activities in the shares of FBNH Plc and Access Bank Plc.
The banking sub-sector boosted by activities in the shares of Fidelity Bank Plc and Ecobank Plc followed with a turnover of 84.94million shares in 976 deals.
Linkage Assurance Plc led the gainers’ table with a gain of 10 per cent to close at 44 kobo per share while Conoil Plc followed with a gain of 9.81 per cent to close at N17.35 per share.
NNFM Plc added 7.79 per cent to close at N4.60 per share.
On the other hand, Wema Bank Plc led the price losers’ table, dropping 1.72 per cent to close at 57 kobo per share.
NEM Insurance Plc followed with 1.46 per cent to close at N2.03 kobo per share.
Stakeholders want energy firms to leverage capital market
Stakeholders have enjoined oil and gas firms to tap the opportunities offered by the capital market to enhance the development of the oil industry.
They stated this at the recent Nigeria Stock Exchange 2020 Oil and Gas Webinar themed ‘Perspectives of Operators and Industry Experts Post COVID-19’.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, said that there were immense opportunities with a deep pool of capital in the Nigerian Capital market that the oil and gas sector could take advantage of.
Onyema noted that he had no doubt that the exchange was well-positioned to attract the right international and domestic capital required to drive the country’s economic reforms and growth.
He commended the Federal Government for the efforts made towards energy diversification and the recent policy reforms in the sector.
This, according to him, covered the following: N250bn intervention facility by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the National Gas Expansion Programme targeted at increasing domestic utilisation of Compressed Natural Gas and Liquified Petroleum Gas.
He also recognised the push towards local energy sufficiency with the construction of modular refineries in different parts of the country through private-public partnerships.
Onyema said the exchange was aware of the shifts within the oil and gas sector and emphasised the global demand for green energy and green finance.
He noted that the market for green bonds was one of the fastest-growing in the world with an increase of 51 per cent observed in 2018 to $257bn globally issued green bonds in 2019.
He was of the opinion that the exchange could provide a platform to access a global pool of capital to aid asset acquisition, business expansion, debt refinancing, and other objectives of government and corporates.
According to him, issuers operating in the oil and gas sector have raised over N400bn across several asset classes on the exchange in recent years.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, said it was no longer news that the energy industry was currently faced with critical challenges to eliminate carbon emissions in the global space.
He noted that the energy industry has been historically renowned for its resilience and ability to navigate through tough times like the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The minister identified the following developments as important: crude oil production and price wars between Saudi Arabia and Russia, trade war between China and the United States of America, supply gluts which weakened global crude oil demand and global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy following new discoveries.
He said the COVID-19 changed the dynamics of the global energy situation and as a result brought about multi-pronged assaults on the Nigerian economy leading to loss of revenue, deferred investments, and the slowdown of growth and development.
Sylva called for innovative adaptability in the industry as it has now become inevitable for the survival of industry players in these unusual times as the global relevance of crude oil increasingly diminishes.
To achieve innovation, the minister spoke on the need for the fiscal regime to be urgently tweaked under a peaceful socio-political environment.
