Stock market rebounds as investors gain N81.63 Bn

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Stock market rebounds as investors gain N81.63 Bn

The Nigerian Stock market yesterday rebounded to a positive position after a three day consecutive downturn as investors recovered N81.63 billion from their investment in shares traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE.

Specifically, the NSE market capitalisation, which is the total value of shares listed on the exchange increased by N81.63 billion to close at N10.239 trillion from N10.157 trillion.

Another stock market performance indicator, NSE All share Index surged by 0.8 per cent to close at 29,812.91 points. The performance, according to market operators was largely buoyed by the renewed buying sentiment in bellwether stocks such as Dangote Cement, DANGCEM Plc, which gained 1.0 per cent, followed by Guaranty Trust Bank , GTBANK 4.2 per cent and Zenith Bank 2.2 per cent. Volume of shares traded on the NSE rose 19.8 per cent, while value traded declined 13.5 per cent to close at 305.8million units and N2.9billion respectively, indicating mixed market activity.

Meanwhile, emerging market veteran investor ,Mark Mobius said yesterday that Nigeria’s stock market is becoming the most interesting one on the African continent to foreign investors after Nigeria devalued its currency. Earlier in June, Nigeria ditched its 16-month old currency peg to the dollar that had throttled foreign exchange markets, led to widespread capital flight and caused its first quarterly economic contraction since the 1990s in a move widely welcomed by investors.

“Probably now, it would be Nigeria, simply because they are in such a bad shape,” said Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group. Everybody is concerned what is happening to the country ,so Nigeria would be the place to look now,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of an Africa investment conference. Templeton has around $700 million assets under management in its dedicated Africa fund, which has its biggest holdings in Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa. “The naira is still a bit overvalued, so we could see a further fall in the naira,” he said.

Renewed buying interest in banking stocks
Performance across sectors on the NSE was largely positive save for the Insurance index which dipped 0.7 per cent owing to profit taking activities in MANSARD Insurance which dropped by -3.1 per cent .

The Banking index rose 2.0 per cent as a result of improved buying interest in GTBANK , which gained 4.2 per cent , followed by Zenith Bank which increased by 2.2 per cent. UBA garnered 1.7 per cent and Wema Bank 8.0 per cent. The Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices inched by 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent higher on the back of bargain hunting in Dangote Cement rising by 1.0 per cent and Forte Oil 1.6 per cent.

On the gainers and loser chart, 24 stocks advanced as against 18 decliners. Specifically, shares of Forte Oil, Julius Berger, 7UP Bottling Company and Dangote Cement gained N3.03, N2.42, N2.00 and N1.89 to close at N194.03, N50.93, N142.00 and N194.00 respectively. Conversely, shares of Ashaka Cements, Champion Breweries Plc, UAC Properties and ETranzact International depreciated by N1.05, N0.23, N0.22 and N0.19 to close at N19.95, N4.46, N4.28 and N16.51 respectively.

Market news
The 7UP Bottling Company Plc in its 12 months financial report ended March 2016 posted a 3.86 per cent increase in turnover to N85.63 billion. However, following a 16.64 per cent increase in cost of goods sold to N60.62 billion and a 31.94 per cent rise in finance cost to N3.24 billion, profit after tax plunged by 53.02 per cent to N3.34 billion.