Equities Rebound as Investors Gain N260bn, ASI up 0.37%

Samuel Mobolaji

The Nigerian equities market, yesterday, halted the prior day’s downtrend, as gains in Dangote Cement Plc and 34 others pushed the overall capitalisation up by N260 billion.

The All-Share Index (ASI) gained 411.52 points, representing a gain of 0.37 per cent to close at 112,427.48 points. Also, market capitalisation rose by N260 billion to close at N70.895 trillion.

The upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, Guinness Nigeria, Industrial & Medical Gases Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC Holdings and First Holdco. On market outlook, Afrinvest Limited said, ‘We expect a sustained bullish performance on the bourse, buoyed by renewed investor appetite.’

Market breadth was positive, with 35 gainers outpacing 32 losers, reflecting broad-based bullish sentiment across sectors. Honeywell Flour Mills and SCOA Nigeria emerged as the highest price gainer of 10 per cent each to close at N22.00 and N5.39 respectively, while Industrial & Medical Gases Nigeria followed with a gain of 9.96 per cent to close at N37.00 per share.

International Energy Insurance advanced by 9.82 per cent to close at N1.79, while May & Baker Nigeria rose by 9.75 per cent to close at N12.95 per share.

On the other side, Conoil led others on the losers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N268.30 per share. Learn Africa followed with a decline of 9.98 per cent to close at N3.88, while Transcorp Hotels declined by 9.97 per cent to close at N132.80 per share.

Julius Berger went down by 9.94 per cent to close at N120.50, while Chellaram depreciated by 9.92 per cent to close at N9.53, per share. The total volume traded rose by 21.84 per cent to 622.635 million units, valued at N16.124 billion, and exchanged in 17,044 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Fidelity Bank led the activity with 108.172 million shares worth N2.055 billion. Legend Internet followed with an account of 60.953 million shares valued at N344.360 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 55.738 million shares valued at N1.926 billion.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 41.225 million shares worth N2.804 billion, while Access Holdings traded 34.515 million shares worth N754.432 million.