Equities Market Gains Marginally as 23 Stocks Advance

• Equities Market Gains Marginally as 23 Stocks Advance

The Nigerian equity market closed on a positive note on Wednesday as 23 stocks appreciated, boosting the market marginally by N8bn.

It finally rose by 0.09 per cent with most key sectors holding on to previous session’s gains.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange market capitalisation rose to N9.028tn from N9.020tn, as the NSE All-Share Index closed at 26,240.45 basis points from 26,217.54 basis points.

A total of 190.006 million shares valued at N2.434bn were traded in 2,896 deals.

The oil and gas sector rode on gains in Oando Plc, Forte Oil Plc and Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, which appreciated by 2.39 per cent, 1.87 per cent and 1.09 per cent, respectively, to close in the green for the third consecutive session.

The industrial goods sector traded higher after Lafarge Africa Plc rose by one per cent. The consumer goods sector also appreciated marginally amid mixed performances across Honeywell Flour Mill Plc and Guinness, which slid by 4.96 per cent and 1.34 per cent, respectively; as well as Nascon Allied Industries Plc and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, which gained by 4.95 per cent and 1.25 per cent, accordingly.

However, the banking sector index was unchanged as advances in Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Unity Bank Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc by 1.66 per cent, 1.47 per cent and 1.10 per cent, respectively, were countered by declines in Sterling Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and FCMB Group Plc by 3.85 per cent, 0.93 per cent and 0.75 per cent, accordingly.

Market breadth turned positive with 23 advances and 16 declines.

Commenting on the state of the market, analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited said, “Although the NSE ASI closed higher, we note that overall market direction is not clearly positive as revealed by the see-saw movement in the intraday chart. That said, we believe trading will remain mixed in the next session and could again lead to another marginal movement in the ASI.”

On the global front, Asian markets traded higher as investors cheered upbeat Japanese exports data for December (grew 5.4 per cent year-on-year beating Reuters forecast of 1.2 per cent) and South Korea’s Q4 Gross Domestic Product numbers (rose 0.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter against an estimate of 0.3 per cent).

European and the United States markets were also higher as investors continued to focus on corporate earnings releases. Meanwhile, global oil and gas stocks rallied after President Donald Trump of the United States signed orders to revive pipeline projects.