Stock market rebounds as investors gain N74.93bn
The nation’s stock market witnessed a rebound on Tuesday as the market capitalisation of listed equities increased by N74.93bn.
The market capitalisation rose to N11.255tn on Tuesday from N11.180tn on Monday, while the All Share Index gained 0.67 per cent to settle at 30,814.19 basis points.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited attributed the gain recorded to buying interests in bellwethers such as Dangote Cement Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc.
Investor sentiment advanced to 1.8x from 0.9x recorded on Monday as the year-to-date loss moderated to -19.4 per cent.
Activity level also improved as average volume and value traded appreciated by 47.1 per cent and 193.9 per cent to 316.199 million units and N5.090bn, respectively.
The top traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank Plc (102.286 million units), AXA Mansard Insurance Plc (40.057 million units), Lafarge Africa Plc (25.905 million units), Access Bank Plc (22.208 million units) and GTB (15.970 million units), while Zenith Bank (N2.344bn), GTB (N553.8m), Unilever Nigeria Plc (N453.5m), Guinness Nigeria Plc (N384.5m) and Lafarge (N309.5m) were the top traded stocks by value.
Performance across sectors was largely bullish as three indices closed in the green.
The industrial goods index emerged the highest gainer with a 1.63 per cent gain on the back of major gains recorded by Dangote Cement and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc.
The oil and gas index was the second highest gainer, advancing by 1.50 per cent as a result of price appreciation in major stocks such as 11 Plc and Forte Oil Plc.
It was followed by the banking index, which appreciated by 0.48 per cent following gains in GTB and Diamond Bank Plc.
On the flip side, the consumer goods index decreased by 0.91 per cent as a result of the profit-taking in Nigerian Breweries Plc and Unilever.
The insurance index dropped by 0.07 per cent on the back of losses in Continental Reinsurance Plc and Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc.
At the end of trading on Tuesday, 24 stocks emerged gainers against 11 losers.
The top five gainers were Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, Forte Oil, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, Diamond Bank and UACN Property Development Company Plc, whose respective share prices gained 10 per cent, 9.91 per cent, 9.91 per cent, 9.62 per cent and 9.46 per cent.
The top five losers were Access Bank, Mutual Benefits, Nigerian Breweries, Lasaco Assurance Plc and Unilever, which saw their share prices depreciate by 5.52 per cent, 4.76 per cent, 3.40 per cent, 3.33 per cent and 2.76 per cent, respectively.
Analysts at Afrinvest said, “Although we maintain a bearish outlook for the equities market, we do not rule out the possibility of persistent buying interest particularly on fundamentally sound stocks in the near term.”