Market Index Rises as Transcorp, Stanbic Rally
The stock market index rises further midweek as bargain hunting in mid-cap stock drove the local bourse upward. Data from the Nigerian Exchange showed that key performance indicators improved over the popularity of Transcorp following an announcement of a large share acquired by billionaire Femi Otedola.
The conglomerate company share bucked the downward trend seen in the stock market earlier this week, supported by investors’ interest in Stanbic IBTC, and International Breweries among others.
Stockbrokers said the Nigerian Exchange All Share Index gained 10 basis points to close at 51,178.41 points due to gains in STANBIC (+3.2%), TRANSCORP (+9.9%), and INTBREW (+6.7%).
Consequently, year-to-date return improved to -0.1% from -0.2% while market capitalisation appreciated by ₦17.7 billion to ₦27.9 trillion.
With the outing, activity level faltered, stockbrokers admitted, as volume and value traded fell by 79.0% and 43.2% to 216.5 million units and ₦2.0 billion, respectively.
In its note, Afrinvest Limited said performance across its coverage sectors was mixed albeit positively tilted as 3 indices gained, 2 lost while the AFR-ICT index closed flat.
The Banking index gained the most, up 0.8% on the back of price appreciation in FIDELITY (+2.1%), UBA (+0.7%), and ZENITH (+0.2%).
The Insurance and Consumer Goods indices followed suit with gains of 0.7% and 0.1% respectively due to price-uptick in MANSARD (+2.2%), AIICO (+1.9%), INTBREW (+6.7%), and PZ (+2.6%).
Meanwhile, losses in SEPLAT (-3.0%), and WAPCO (-1.5%) weighed on the Oil & Gas and Industrial Goods indices, down 1.3% and 0.1% accordingly. The total volume traded declined by 30.1% to 1.27 billion units, valued at N3.98 billion, and exchanged in 3,505 deals.
Driving the stock market momentum, TRANSCORP remained the most traded stock by volume and value at 1.14 billion units and N2.14 billion, respectively.
Overall, market sentiment was positive (3.1x), as 25 tickers gained while 8 tickers lost. # Market Index Rises as Transcorp, Stanbic Rally
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