- Banks, Manufacturers Boost Market Cap by N105.4bn
The nation’s stock market got a boost on Monday on the back of gains recorded by the banking and manufacturing sectors.
The market capitalisation of equities listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange increased by N105.4bn at the close of trading on the floor, while the All Share Index gained 0.88 per cent as the year-to-date return settled at -13.20 per cent.
The market, which has sustained a bullish trend in recent days, saw its capitalisation increase to N12.119tn on Monday from N12.013tn on Friday.
Analysts at Meristem Securities Limited said the positive start was largely driven by gains on some of the heavily weighted counters in the banking sector and modest buying pressure on Dangote Cement, which gained N1.50 on the price chart.
The volume of stocks trade declined by 46.31 per cent to close at 150.504 million, while the value of transactions grew by 46.66 per cent to settle at N2.877bn.
Seven banks ― Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and First City Monument Bank Plc ― and two manufacturers (Honeywell Flour Mill Plc and Dangote Cement Plc) were the largest gainers out of the 16 recorded on Monday.
There were 17 losers led by Unity Bank Plc, which saw its share price drop by 10 per cent from 90 kobo on Friday to 81 kobo on Monday.
The market breadth was pegged at 0.94x at the close of trading on Monday.
Three of the five indices closed southwards. The insurance index lost the most, declining by 0.4 per cent, following weaker earnings published by AIICO Insurance Plc and profit-taking in Custodian Investment Plc.
Similarly, the oil and gas and consumer goods indices declined by 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively, due to losses in Oando Plc, Eterna Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc.
On the flip side, the banking and industrial goods indices appreciated by two per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively, on the back of buying interest in GTB, Zenith Bank and Dangote Cement.
The top five gainers were Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, LASACO Assurance Plc, Stanbic IBTC, Wapic Insurance Plc and GTB.
Consolidated Hallmark saw its share price increase by 10 per cent to close at 33 kobo, while LASACO’s share price increased by 6.67 per cent to close at 32 kobo.
Stanbic, Wapic and GTB saw their respective share prices gain 6.52 per cent, 4.76 per cent and 4.05 per cent to close at N49, 44 kobo and N38.50.
On the other hand, the top five losers were Unity Bank, Diamond Bank Plc, Royal Exchange Plc, AIICO Insurance Plc and Meyer Plc.
Diamond Bank saw its share price drop by 9.72 per cent to close at N1.30 while Royal Exchange’s share price dropped by 9.09 per cent to 20 kobo.
AIICO and Meyer saw their respective share prices decline by 8.86 per cent and 8.82 per cent to close at 72 kobo and 62 kobo.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said they observed severe sell pressures outside banking bellwether stocks.
They predicted that market performance would decline in subsequent sessions.
