The Nigerian equities market closed upbeat yesterday, occasioned by gains in most blue-chip stocks, as investors gained N134 billion.
Yesterday, the All Share Index (ASI) increased by 257.78 absolute points or 1.04 per cent to close at 25,141.48 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation gained N134 billion to close at N13.115 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large value stocks, including SEPLAT Petroleum, Airtel Africa, Presco, Okomu Oil, and Guinness Nigeria.
The Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omordion, said: “Investors and traders are positioning in anticipation of interim dividend payout, amid the changing sentiments in the hope of improved liquidity and positive economic indices which may reverse the current trend.
“We see investors focusing on portfolio adjustment and rebalancing by targeting companies with strong potential to grow their dividend on the strength of their earnings capacity.”
He also noted that the current undervalued state of the market offers investors opportunities to position for the short, medium and long-term, urging them to target sound and dividend-paying stocks for capital appreciation.
Market breadth closed positive, recording 18 gainers and 11 losers. SEPLAT recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N385.00 per share. Cadbury Nigeria followed with 9.93 per cent to close at N7.75, and Airtel Africa advanced 9.20 per cent to close at N380.00, per share.
Prestige Assurance rose 8.89 per cent to close at 49 kobo, while Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals garnered 8.11 per cent to close at N2.00, per share.
On the other hand, Champion Breweries led the losers’ chart by 9.30 per cent to close at 78 kobo, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance followed with 8.11 per cent to close at 34 kobo, per share.
Sunu Assurances Nigeria and Mutual Benefits Assurance shed 4.76 per cent each to close at 20 kobo each, and Access Bank shed 2.29 per cent to close at N6.40, per share.
However, the total volume traded fell marginally by 0.84 per cent to 204.878 million shares worth N3.830 billion, traded in 3,636 deals. Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank topped the activity chart with 66.252 million shares valued at N1.646 billion.
Access Bank followed with 24.005 million shares worth N155.812 million, while Zenith Bank traded 15.209 million shares at N255.328 million.
FBN Holdings traded 13.953 million shares valued at N70.633 million, while Sterling Bank transacted 13.213 million shares worth N15.7 million.
