Bulls gain strength as investors’ wealth rises by 1.09 per cent

THE bulls regained some strength at the end of yesterday’s transactions on the equities sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange ( NSE), occasioned by price gains in medium and high cap stocks, as the All - Share Index (ASI) soared by 1.09 per cent.

Yesterday, ASI appreciated by 296.80 points or 1.09 per cent to 27,579.85 points. Accordingly, investors gained N145 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N13.426 trillion.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Seplat Petroleum Development Company ( Seplat), Total Nigeria, Access Bank and Eterna.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “In the absence of any major stimulus, we expect a bearish performance for the rest of the week. Nonetheless, we see opportunities for bargain hunting in stocks with sound fundamentals.”

Market breadth closed positive as 16 stocks recorded gains relative to seven losers. Nestle Nigeria, Total Nigeria and Seplat recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each, to close at N1, 336.50, N110 and N506 respectively, per share. Continental Reinsurance followed with a gain 9.88 per cent to close at N1.89 per share. Cornerstone Insurance and NEM Insurance appreciated by 9.52 per cent each, to close at 46 kobo and N2.30, per share.

On the other hand, Forte Oil led the losers’ chart by 6.78 per cent, to close at N15.80, per share. Honeywell Flour Mills followed with a decline of 5.94 per cent to close at 95 kobo, while Custodian Investment lost 4.76 per cent to close at N6, per share.

Chams declined by 4.17 per cent to close at 23 kobo, while Fidelity Bank shed 1.19 per cent to close at N1.66, per share.

However, total volume traded fell by 60.3 per cent to 183.47 million shares, worth N2.93 billion, and traded in 2,576 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with 67.32 million shares valued at N509.83 million.

Guaranty Trust Bank followed with 23.16 million shares worth N651.7 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 14.08 million shares valued at N14.29 million.

Lafarge Africa traded 10.43 million shares valued at N156.63 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 8.73 million shares worth N47.94 million.