Stocks gain N290bn as investors trade over one billion shares
The Nigerian stock market gained N290bn at the end of trading last week as the All-Share Index of the Nigerian Exchange Limited rose by 1.48 per cent to 38,212.01 basis points.
The market capitalisation increased to N19.92tn on Friday from N19.63tn the previous week.
Analysts at Cordros Research noted that buying interest in Nestle Nigeria Plc and bargain hunting in Okomu Oil Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, Access Bank Plc and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc drove the weekly gain to a month-to-date return of 0.80 per cent.
A total of 1.02 billion shares valued at N14.14 billion were traded in 17,565 deals last week, compared to 1.01 billion shares worth N10.33 billion traded in 17,165 deals in the previous week.
The consumer goods lead sectoral gains, recording a 5.10 per cent increase. It was followed by industrial goods sector, which gained 2.10 per cent, while the insurance and banking sectors rose by 2.0 per cent and 1.30 per cent respectively.
As trading ended on the floor of the NGX last week, 24 companies saw their share prices rise, while 16 companies recorded losses.
Nascon Allied Insurance led the gainers’ chart with a 9.76 per cent to close at N15.75 per share. It was followed by Ikeja Hotel Plc with a 9.59 per cent increase to close at N1.60 per share.
Other top gainers were Berger Paints Plc, Academy Press Plc, and Tripple Gee and Company Plc.
University Press Plc led the losers as its share price fell by 8.98 per cent close at N1.52.
Linkage Assurance Plc was next with a 7.61 per cent loss ending the day at N0.85 per share. The other top losers were FCMB Group, LASACO Assurance and FTN Cocoa Processors.
In its weekly report for the equities market, Cordros Capital said, “With the H1- 21 earnings season on the horizon, we believe investors will be looking for clues on the sustainability of the decent corporate earnings released for Q1-21.
“However, we expect mixed market performance in the week ahead as bargain hunting in dividend-paying stocks will be matched by intermittent profit-taking activities.”
The analysts advised investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the unimpressive macro story remained a significant headwind for corporate earnings.
