NSE Ends Eight-day Loss, 19 Stocks Gain

• NSE Ends Eight-day Loss, 19 Stocks Gain

Trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange ended on a positive note on Wednesday as 19 stocks recorded gains with market capitalisation appreciating by N20bn.

The NSE All-Share Index snapped its eight-day losing streak as most key sectors traded in positive territory.

A total of 165.725 million shares valued at N1.126bn exchanged hands in 2,484 deals.

The NSE market capitalisation rose to N8.784bn from N8.764bn, while the NSE ASI closed at 25,517 basis points from 25,461.34 basis points.

The financial services sector led gains after advances in Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc by 1.19 per cent, 1.18 per cent and 0.82 per cent, respectively.

The consumer goods and industrial goods sectors also closed higher following gains across PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, Glaxo Smitkline Consumer Nigeria Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and Cap Plc by 4.90 per cent, 3.40 per cent, 1.25 per cent and 2.90 per cent, accordingly.

However, the oil and gas sector continued to underperform as Forte Oil Plc (-919bps) plunged to a fresh year low by 9.19 per cent, while Total Nigeria Plc shed 4.14 per cent.

Market breadth turned positive for the first time in 14 sessions with 19 advances and 11 declines.

On what would shape the next trading session, analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited, said, “We attribute today’s rebound to bargain hunting, especially on select bellwether stocks believed to have been oversold. We think the ASI could hold on to gains in the coming sessions.”

On the global front, Asian markets closed higher as commodity stocks gained, while European markets traded slightly lower despite better-than-expected Eurozone purchasing managers’ index for November, which came in at 54.1, the highest since December 2015. The United States futures pointed to a lower open ahead of the release of a slew of economic data.