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18 stocks boost market performance by N117bn

By on March 2, 2016

The Nigerian stock market soared by N117bn on Monday after 18 stocks recorded significant appreciation on their market prices.

Dangote Cement Plc, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc and Tiger Branded Consumer Goods Plc emerged top five gainers after the close of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A total of 467.239 million shares valued at 1.489bn were traded in 2,549 deals.

At the end of trading, the NSE market capitalisation soared to N8.452tn from N8.335tn, while the All-Share Index climbed to 24,570.73 basis points from 24,228.79 basis points.

The stock index rose by 1.41 per cent, its highest level in two weeks, supported by investors’ interest in the shares of Dangote Cement majorly, which accounts for a third of the local bourse’s capitalisation.

The stock index has the second-biggest weighting after Kuwait on the MSCI frontier market index.

The highest index attained by the market in the course of trading on Monday was 24,570.73, while the lowest and average index points were 23,883.34 and 24,163.31 basis points, respectively.

Dangote Cement shares appreciated by N6.75 (five per cent) to close at N141.73 from N135, while those of Ecobank closed at N16.75 from N15.96, up by N0.79 (4.95 per cent).

Fidson Healthcare shares also appreciated by N0.12 (4.92 per cent) to close at N2.56 from N2.44.

Mobil recorded a gain of N6.97 (4.65 per cent) in its share price to close at N156.97 from N150, while Tigerbrands recorded a gain of N0.06 (4.55 per cent) to close at N1.38 from N1.32.

Other gainers were Livestock Feeds Plc, May and Baker Nigeria Plc, Africa Prudential Registrars Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited, FBN Holdings Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and United Capital Plc.

Access Bank Plc, Presco Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and UACN Plc also emerged as gainers.

Despite the boost in the NSE index, a total of 18 stocks also recorded losses in their share prices.

Wema Bank Plc, Oando Plc, Ikeja Hotels Plc, Conoil Plc and Dangote Sugar Refineries Plc emerged as the top five losers.

Wema Bank shares depreciated by N0.07 (7.29 per cent) to close at N0.89 from N0.96, while those of Oando slumped to N2.97 from N3.20, losing N0.23 (7.19 per cent).

Ikeja Hotels also recorded a loss of N0.15 (4.97 per cent) in its share price to close at N2.87 from N3.02.

The shares of Conoil depreciated by N0.91 (4.96 per cent) to close at N17.43 from N18.34, while those of Dangote Sugar closed at N5.23 from N5.50 depreciating by N0.27 (4.91 per cent).

Other firms which recorded losses in their share prices were Honeywell Flour Mill Plc, Eterna Oil, Axamansard Insurance Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc.

Skye Bank Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Vitafoam Nigeria Plc also depreciated in their share prices.

Meanwhile, analysts had said that the prevailing uncertainties in Nigeria’s financial market were negatively affecting the performance of the equities, fixed income and other markets in terms of yields, according to financial analysts.

There was significant volatility in the value of the naira last week, with the currency trading within the range of N280 – N372 to a United States dollar, Meristem Securities Limited said in its last weekly report.

To this end, Meristem said, “This volatility of the currency at the parallel market continues to fuel discussions and anxieties regarding a possible ‘devaluation’ of the currency.

“In light of this, we expect the bearish trend in the market to persist as foreign investors continue to abstain from Nigeria’s financial market due to uncertainties in risk-return expectations as a result of the highly volatile and seemingly ‘mispriced’ naira.”

Fluctuations in oil prices dictated the course of global markets last week. At the start of the week, markets traded mostly in the green, buoyed by a rebound in oil prices from the previous week’s levels.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday however, comments by Saudi Oil Minister, Al-Naimi, dashed hopes for production cuts, sending most markets into red although the US markets bucked the trend trading mostly higher.

At week close, global markets climbed into a positive territory supported by a recovery in oil prices (trading at $36.13bbl as of 1700 hours on Friday) and a meeting by the G-20 finance ministers, which aimed to address the current global economic slowdown.

 

[Punch]