As investors returned to the trading floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Monday to commence another week, the Nigeria stock capitalisation rose by N28 billion amid sustained bargain hunting in 28 stocks.
The All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 42.71 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.10 per cent to close at 43,897.13 points. Similarly, the overall Nigeria stock capitalisation size gained N28 billion to close at N23.651 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are Dangote Cement, BUA Foods, MRS Oil Nigeria, Vitafoam Nigeria and PZ Cussons Nigeria.
This week, United Capital expected the market to maintain its bullish momentum as investors continue to take positions ahead of the dividend season amidst pockets of profit taking.
Market sentiment, as measured by the market breadth, was positive, as 28 stocks gained relative to 19 losers.
BUA Foods recorded the highest price gain of 9.96 per cent, to close at N58.50, per share. MRS Oil Nigeria followed with a gain 9.72 per cent to close at N13.55, while PZ Cussons Nigeria rose by 8.53 per cent to close at N7.00, per share.
AIICO Insurance went up by 7.69 per cent to close at 84 kobo, while NPF Microfinance Bank appreciated by 6.45 per cent to close at N1.98, per share.
On the other hand, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) led the losers’ chart by 9.66 per cent, to close at N6.55, per share. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with a decline of 6.90 per cent to close at N5.40, while Red Star Express lost 6.38 per cent to close at N3.23, per share.
MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) lost 5.84 per cent to close at N185.50, while Sovereign Trust Bank shed 3.85 per cent to close at 25 kobo, per share.
Meanwhile, the total volume traded declined by 21.23 per cent to 311.256 million shares, worth N8.642 billion, and traded in 5,159 deals.
Transactions in the shares of BUA Foods topped the activity chart with 101.356 million shares valued at N5.929 billion. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) followed with 51.224 million shares worth N50.210 million, while Zenith Bank traded 12.130 million shares valued at N308.628 million.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 10.351 million shares valued at N265.608 million, while Sovereign Trust Insurance transacted 9.472 million shares worth N2.291 million.
Meanwhile, a report titled ‘Nigeria 2022 outlook: Consolidating on recovery but persisting large imbalances present headwinds’, Sigma Pensions predicts that the current bull-run nonetheless, the bears would later highjack the equity market in the long run.
“For equity markets, we see bearish trends dominating market sentiments as the fixed income optionality becomes available to investors after a two-year hiatus and as political risk premiums on Naira risk assets heighten ahead of the 2023 general elections,” it pointed out.
Nevertheless, it noted that, expectations are that, the domestic institutional investor support in bellwether names to continue to curtail downside to the overall market.
