NSE records N19bn gain on first trading day in September

Motolani Oseni

The equities market segment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) commenced trading in September on positive note with a marginal growth of 0.14 per cent, which translated to investors’ gain of N19 billion.

Specifically, the All Share Index (ASI) rose by 39.28 points or 0.14 per cent to 27,565.09 points. Accordingly, investors gained N19 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N13.410 trillion.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), Unilever Nigeria, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank.

Despite yesterday’s outing, analysts at Afrinvest Limited expected the bearish run in the equities market to resurface as the weak macro-economic environment continues to cast a shadow on investor sentiment.

Also, analysts at Imperial Assets Manager said that “This week, we expect bargain hunting on stocks that have witnessed significant price depreciation in recent past to still, be at fore.

“Overall, we expect developments in the fiscal space to weigh in on sentiments, as investors assess the direction of recent policy pronouncements.”

Market breadth closed positive as 22 stocks recorded gains relative to 14 losers. CCNN recorded the highest price gain of 9.78 per cent, to close at N17.40, per share.

Cornerstone Insurance followed with a gain 9.52 per cent to close at 23 kobo, while UBA appreciated by 5.98 per cent to close at N6.20, per share.

Nestle Nigeria went up by 5.94 per cent to close at N1,319, while GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria appreciated by 3.47 per cent to close at N7.45, per share.

On the other hand, UACN led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, to close at N4.50, per share. Champion Breweries followed with a decline of 9.80 per cent to close at N1.38, while Africa Prudential shed 9.25 per cent to close at N3.63, per share.

hams lost 7.69 per cent to close at 24 kobo, while University Press shed 7.38 per cent to close at N1.13, per share.

However, the total volume traded fell by 10.63 per cent to 111.52 million shares, worth N1.56 billion, and traded in 3,122 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 16.15 million shares valued at N283.9 million.

UBA followed with 13.95 million shares worth N86.04 billion, while FBN Holdings traded 13.64 million shares valued at N64.8 million.

UAC of Nigeria (UACN) traded 7.8 million shares valued at N35.91 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank transacted 5.15 million shares worth N141.08 million.