Large cap stocks buoy NSE rebound amidst negative breadth
The benchmark All-Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) resisted further decline on Thursday, thereby halting eight successive sessions of losses on a very high traded volume and buying position of 100%.
The day’s rebound followed gains by two high cap stocks- Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria, as the market turned around and closed higher, even as the high transaction volume, just after previous day’s low suggests that the ongoing price correction may be temporary.
The market, which had declined for eighth straight trading sessions amid negative sentiment, rebounded on Thursday despite the losses recorded by 46 stocks against six gaining counterparts.
Sprecifically, the ASI rose by 0.78 per cent to 41,014.30 basis points while the market capitalisation increased by N170 billion to close at N21.29 trillion.
The top five gainers at the end of trading on the floor of the NSE were Dangote Cement, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc.
Dangote Cement appreciated by 7.04 per cent to close at N228 per share while Mutual Benefits gained 5.41 per cent to close at N0.39 per share.
Sovereign Trust Insurance rose by 3.7 per cent to close at N0.28 per share; Vitafoam was up 3.33 per cent to close at N9.30 per share, while Unilever Nigeria gained 2.57 per cent to close at N13.95 per share.
Linkage Assurance Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc, which led the losers, saw their share prices drop by 10 per cent each to close at N0.54 and N2.25 respectively.
Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc shed 9.96 per cent to close at N2.08 per share; Northern Nigeria Flour Mills Plc fell by 9.88 per cent to N7.02 per share; while Portland Paints & Products Nigeria Plc lost 9.84 per cent to close at N2.84 per share.
Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said stocks snapped an eight-day sell-off on bargain buying in bellwethers, namely Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria.
Accordingly, the month-to-date (MtD) loss moderated to -3.3 per cent, while the year-to-date (YtD) gain increased to +1.9 per cent.
The analysts said, “The total volume of trades increased by 247.4 per cent to 1.27 billion units, valued at N6.40bn, and exchanged in 6,573 deals.
TRANSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 55.75 million units, while MTNN was the most traded stock by value at N1.57 billion.”
