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Equities market gains N274bn in three days

By on November 29, 2014

Investors in Nigerian equities market continue to smile as the market rose further to record its third consecutive close  yesterday after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced decisions expected to have negative impact on the market.
Expectations were rife  that the market would witness negative performance following the decision of the MPC  to devalue the naira and hike savings deposit rate and cash reserve ratio(CRR) for private sector funds.
Rather than witness bearish trading, the equities market has maintained an upward trend since Tuesday, leading to gain of N274 billion in market capitalisation in the last three days.
The market capitalisation grew from N11.184 trillion to N11.457 trillion, while Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 2.4 per cent from 33,875.26 to close at 34,705.48.  Yesterday accounted for 0.35 per cent of the growth as 38 stocks added value compared with 18 stocks that shed weight.
Market operators said while the MPC decisions would definitely attract some investments from equities market to fixed income securities, activities of bargain hunters is still driving the market following attractive valuations.
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc led the price gainers with 10.3 per cent to close at N50.43 per share. Presco Plc went up by 10.2 per cent, while May & Baker Nigeria Plc went up by 9.5 per cent. Other top price gainers include: Eterna plc 99.4 per cent); Costain (W.A) Plc (8.7 per cent) and United Bank for Africa Plc (6.2 per cent) and Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc(five per cent).
UBA is among companies planning to access the capital market for more funds through right issue. The right issue by UBA will be made in the ratio of one new share for every 10 shares already held.
According to the bank, further information on the proposed offer  would be communicated to shareholders and other stakeholders in due course upon receipt of regulatory approval.
Apart from UBA, Access Bank, Oando Plc, and Presco Plc have also indicated their intention to raise fresh capital from the market through rights issue.

 

[ThisDay]