Equities Appreciate Marginally Despite 23 Decliners

• Equities Appreciate Marginally Despite 23 Decliners

The Nigerian equities market recorded N4bn marginal appreciation despite 23 stocks closing in the red amid 21 gainers.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange market capitalisation closed at N13.556tn from N13.552tn.

A total of 462.670 million shares worth N26.809bn exchanged hands in 5,090 deals.

The NSE All-Share Index advanced by 0.03 per cent at the close of trades on Tuesday, thus, the year-to-date return settled at 44.84 per cent. The volume traded and market value of transactions advanced by 31.97 per cent and 445.40 per cent, respectively.

Union Bank of Nigeria Plc outperformed other counters, as the ticker gained 10.01 per cent to close at a new year high of N7.91. Other top gainers in the day were Diamond Bank Plc, Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc and Nascon Allied Industries Plc, which appreciated respectively by 7.14 per cent, 4.90 per cent, 4.55 per cent and 4.06 per cent.

On the other hand, FCMB Group Plc declined by 4.69 per cent, thus leading the laggards’ chart to close at N1.22. It was followed by Fidelity Bank Plc, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, Linkage Assurance Plc and Sterling Bank Plc, which dropped by 4.64 per cent, 4.64 per cent, 4.62 per cent and 4.59 per cent, accordingly.

Sector performance as measured by the NSE sector indices showed that the NSE food/beverage index gained 0.27 per cent to emerge as the only index to record an advancement. The NSE oil/gas, NSE industrial goods, NSE insurance and NSE banking indices declined by 0.40 per cent, 0.29 per cent, 0.27 per cent and 0.13 per cent, respectively.

Commenting on the market’s performance, analysts at Meristem Securities said, “Activities in the equities market were relatively mixed during today’s trading session. However, the buy pressures noted on certain tickers in the consumer goods space alongside the 0.04 per cent gain by Dangote Cement Plc drove the bourse to the positive territory. We expect this current mood to be sustained for the rest of the week.”