The Nigerian equities market remained upbeat yesterday as the Capitalisation hit N17 trillion benchmark due to gains in high capitalised stocks.
The All-Share Index (ASI) gained 404.05 absolute points, representing an increase of 1.25 per cent to close at 32,647.10 points, Likewise, the overall market capitalisation value also gained N211 billion, to close at N17.059 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are; MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Stanbic IBTC Holdings, NASCON Allied Industries, Dangote Sugar Refinery and Ardova Plc.
On market performance, the chief operating officer of InvestData Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omordion said, “The nation’s equity market indices, closed higher in the aftermath of a surge in demand for high cap and dividend-paying stocks, which recently released impressive Q3 numbers.”
He also noted that investors positioned in banking stocks ahead of their scorecards release, saying that all of these were helped by the inflow of funds from maturating OMO bills and other investment windows to the equity space.
He stated that the current undervalued state of the market offers investors opportunities to position for the short, medium and long-term, which is why investors should target fundamentally sound, and dividend-paying stocks for possible capital appreciation in the rest of the year.
Market sentiment, as measured by market breadth, was positive, as stocks gained, relative to 11 losers. Cadbury Nigeria, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria and Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N9.35, N6.60 and N2.20, respectively, per share. NASCON followed with a gain 9.96 per cent to close at N15.45, while Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) rose by 9.92 per cent to close at N6.65, per share.
On the other hand, Associated Bus Company led the losers’ chart by 8.82 per cent, to close at 31 kobo, per share. PZ Cussons Nigeria followed with a decline of 5.38 per cent to close at N4.40, while Chams shed 4.35 per cent to close at 22 kobo, per share.
United Capital lost 3.17 per cent to close at N4.28, while Lasaco Assurance depreciated by 2.86 per cent to close at 34 kobo, per share.
Meanwhile, the total volume traded decreased by nine per cent to 578.779 million shares, worth N7.743 billion, and traded in 7,651 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 67.914 million shares valued at N1.621 billion. FBN Holdings (FBNH) followed with 64.722 million shares worth N464.010 million, while Access Bank traded 60.236 million shares valued at N538.721 million.
Fidelity Bank traded 35.489 million shares valued at N99.917 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank transacted 34.812 million shares worth N1.209 billion.