Nigeria stock market increases by N214bn

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Nigeria extended bullish posture on Wednesday with the market capitalisation increasing further by N214 billion on sustained bargain hunting of blue chips.

Specifically. the market capitalisation which opened at N20.446 trillion rose by N214 billion to close at N20.660 trillion supported by interests in BUA Cement.

Also, the All-Share Index appreciated by 402.14 points or 1.03 per cent to close at 39,512.31 from 39,110.17 achieved on Tuesday.

Accordingly, month-to-date and year-to-date gain increased to 12.8 per cent and 47.2 per cent, respectively.

The uptrend was also driven by price appreciation in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; BUA Cement, International Breweries, Eterna, C & I Leasing and NEM Insurance.

Commenting, President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr Olatunde Amolegbe, described the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) emergence as the best-performing stock market as good news for investors.

“This is certainly good news for investors in particular and our country in general.

“It is heartwarming, after suffering the hangover of the global financial crisis longer than most other countries.

“The most gratifying fact about this performance is that it is actually backed by fundamental performances of our quoted companies.

“The performance also underpins the need for improvement in liquidity flow to the market through various sources that we at the CIS have been advocating in the last few years.

“The reduction in the interest rate and fixed income yield had been a net positive for quoted companies that are now able to borrow cheaper to finance their operations as well as for market operators that can see renewed interest in the financial markets.

“The NSE’s performance is also an affirmation of our market’s increasing correlation with other global markets,” Amolegbe said.

He expressed optimism that the trend would continue into the new year.

However, the CIS boss urged investors to speak to their certified stockbrokers before taking any investment decisions.

The market breadth closed positive with 24 gainers in contrast with 19 stocks losers.

Eterna, International Breweries and BUA Cement led the gainers’ chart in percentage terms, gaining 10 per cent each to close at N5.61, 59k and N70.40 per share, respectively.

C & I Leasing followed with 9.74 per cent to close at N4.73, while Japaul Gold and Ventures went up by 9.62 per cent to close at 57k per share.

On the other hand, FTN Cocoa Processors dominated the losers’ chart in percentage terms, losing 9.88 per cent to close at 73k per share.

Deap Capital Management & Trust followed with 7.41 per cent to close at 25k, while Honeywell Flour Mill declined by 6.77 per cent to close at N1.27 per share.

Flour Mills lost 5.45 per cent to close at N26, while Union Bank of Nigeria shed 5.36 per cent to close at N5.30 per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume of shares traded declined by 48.39 per cent with a total of 372.93 million shares worth N11.50 billion in 5,186 deals.

This was against a turnover of 722.57 billion shares valued at N4.38 billion exchanged in 5,042 deals on Tuesday.

Transactions in the shares of United Bank for Africa topped the activity chart with 60.57 million shares worth N524.73 million.

Dangote Cement trailed with 33.17 million shares valued at N8.04 billion, while Zenith Bank traded 27.54 million shares worth N690.85 million.

Access Bank sold 24.45 million shares valued at N215.02 million, while Transcorp transacted 20.98 million shares worth N19.21 million.