Bulls stage comeback with N199bn gain on Dangcem, MTN, Stanbic, other stocks
At the close of trading at the domestic equities market on Wednesday, the run-up in the prices of top counters resulted from the spate of upbeat earnings releases brought about an upturn courtesy of strong buying interest in Dangote Cement (+2.3%), MTN Nigeria (+2.4%), and Stanbic IBTC (+10.0%) weighed positively on Wednesday’s performance.
Thus, the All-Share Index rose 0.98 per cent to 39,085.78 points, giving market investors gains in the tune of N199.2 billion while the market year to date loss improved to -2.9 per cent and the market capitalisation rose to N20.4 trillion.
On the other hand, the level of trading activity weakened as the total volume and value of transactions declining 11.8 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively to 361.9 million units and N5.7 billion.
The most traded stocks by volume were Union Bank (79.3m units), GTBank (72.6m units), and Veritas capital (50.2m units) while GTBank (N2.3bn), MTN Nigeria (N1.1bn) and Dangote Cement (N451.9m) led by value.
Across the sectoral front, there was bullish performance recorded as 4 indicators trended in the north as the ICT index led the gainers’ chart, rising 1.2% due to price appreciation in MTN Nigeria (+2.4%).
Also, the oil & gas, Industrial goods and consumer goods indices recorded growth of 0.7 per cent apiece on the back of buying interest in Oando Plc (+8.7%), Dangote Cement (+2.3%), Guinness Plc (+8.8%), and International Breweries (+2.8%).
On the flip side, profit-taking in Wapic Plc (-9.1%), AXA Mansard (-2.0%), Ecobank International (-2.1%) and Access Bank (-0.6%) dragged the insurance and banking indices lower by 0.6 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, the Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, strengthened to 1.3x from the 1.0x recorded previously as 20 stocks gained against 15 decliners.
Stanbic IBTC (+10.0%), Nigerian Police Force Microfinance Bank (+9.6%) and Cornerstone Insurance (+8.9%) were the top gainers while MRS (-9.7%), Wapic Plc (-9.1%) and Wapco (-7.1%) were the top decliners.
