Stock Market Hits ₦19.805tn as Investors Bet Large on Dangote Cement
Stock market capitalisation hits ₦19.805 trillion as investors continue to bet large on Dangote Cement after the company announced its share buy-back programme yesterday.
Following the bullish run, stock market capitalisation expanded to ₦19.805 trillion, the highest level since 2006 according to analysts at Chapel Hill Denham.
In market report, Chapel Hill Denham said while the upward re-pricing on DANGCEM’s stocks tapered a bit today at 6.34% compare to 9.98% gain yesterday, the impact was still significant enough to exert a positive influence on the benchmark index.
Beyond that, analysts noted the strong positive reaction to PZ (+2.80%) earnings contributed to the benchmark index gain today.
For clarity, the company’s annualised EPS improved to N0.21 from Loss per Share (LPS) of 0.40 in the prior year.
This was mostly driven by the combined impact of higher revenue which surged +3.0% in Q2-21, 10.9% decline in cost of sales, and 75% reduction in finance costs respectively.
Against the foregoing, the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index rose by 120bps to 37,893.61 points.
Further, market year to date return rose to 41.17%, looking on course to eclipse the 2017 market return of 42.3%, when the CBN partly liberalized the FX market with the introduction of the I&E window, a development that excited equity investors.
The combination of Eterna Plc (+10.00% to N4.51), FTN Cocoa Processors Plc (+8.82% to N0.74), and Japaul Oil & Maritime Services Plc (+8.11% to N0.40) were today’s top gaining stocks.
Meanwhile, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc (-10.00% to N0.27), Red Star Express Plc (-9.62% to N3.10), and Associated Bus Co Plc (-9.09% to N0.31) were today’s top losers.
Chapel Hill Denham said performance across its coverage universe was mixed, albeit with a bearish bias as 3 out of 5 of the firm’s coverage indices closing in the red territory.
NSE insurance (-49bps), and NSE oil & gas (-33bps), and NSE consumer goods (-24bps) indices closed negative.
However, these were completely masked by the strong gains across the NSE banking (+150bps) and NSE industrial goods (+335bps) indices, mostly driven by Access Bank Plc (+1.18%) and Dangote Cement Plc.
The market’s activity was broadly strong, with volume traded expanding by 3.55% to 442mn, while value traded grew more than three-fold to N10.288bn.
Today’s most traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank Plc (59.02mn units), AXA Mansard Insurance Plc (39.27mn units), and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Plc (38.22mn units).
On the other hand, the top traded stocks by value are Dangote Cement Plc (N3.173bn), MTN Nigeria Plc (2.214bn), and Zenith Bank Plc (N1.445bn).
Read Also: Dangote Cement: Earnings Expands Two-fold on Sharp Revenue Growth
Elsewhere, the Chapel Hill Denham’s Paramount Equity Fund (PEF) and the Women In-vestment Fund (WIF) closed largely flat, respectively.
Stock Market Hits ₦19.805tn as Investors Bet Large on Dangote Cement
