Stocks Rise N64.93 Billion over Bargain Hunting in MTN, WAPCO
Stocks rise N64.93 billion on Thursday due to bargain hunting in MTN Nigeria stocks which literarily upturned initial losses with support from Lafarge WAPCO gains.
Price appreciation in these bellwether stocks keep the market on seesaw movement for the fifth consecutive trading session, says Atlass Portfolios analysts. As a result, market year to date losses moderated to 1.5% while month to date returns expanded to 2.9%.
The positive sentiment in MTNN, WAPCO, ZENITH BANK and 20 others pushed the All-share Index by 124.62 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.32% to close at 39,670.29. Today’s rally lifted the stock market capitalization by ₦64.93 billion, expanding 0.32% to close at ₦20.67 trillion.
Meanwhile, activities closed with the volume of stocks traded on the exchange appreciating by 52.82 per cent, while the value of stocks traded on the exchange declined 37.17 per cent. A total of 201.84 million units of shares valued at ₦1.68 billion were traded in 3,274 deals.
COURTVILLE led the volume chart, accounting for 17.26 per cent of the total volume of trades, followed by ETI (9.25%), TRANSCORP (6.33%), NAHCO (5.58%), and HONYFLOUR (5.44%) to complete the top five on the volume chart.
On the other hand, CUSTODIAN topped the value chart accounting for 32.37 per cent of the total value of trade on the exchange.
Market data from the Nigerian Exchange indicates that NAHCO and NEIMETH topped the advancers’ list, as their share prices inched upward by 10.00 per cent, respectively. NB led the losers’ table with its share price declining by 8.77 per cent to close at ₦52.00 after opening the day at ₦57.00.
“We expect to see a sustained modest recovery in the equity market tomorrow”, Atlass Portfolios analysts said.
Afrinvest said in a market report that performance across sectors under its coverage was mixed as 3 indices gained while 3 indices lost. The AFR-ICT index led the gainers’ chart with a 1.4% gain, driven by buying interest in COURTVILLE (+7.4%) and MTNN (+2.6%).
Similarly, the Insurance and Industrial Goods indices advanced by 0.8% and 22bps respectively on the back of price uptick in AIICO (+3.2%), WAPIC (+2.1%), and WAPCO (+3.8%).
Conversely, the Consumer Goods index lost the most, down 1.7% due to selling pressure on NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-8.8%) and DANGSUGAR (-0.6%). Also, the Oil & Gas and Banking indices fell by 7 and 6 basis points respectively as a result of price depreciation in ETERNA (-2.7%), ETI (-3.6%), and FCMB (-3.5%).
“We expect the positive sentiment to dominate tomorrow’s trading session amidst bargain-hunting opportunities in some large-cap stocks”, Afrinvest said.
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Stocks Rise N64.93 Billion over Bargain Hunting in MTN, WAPCO
