Chinwendu Obienyi
THE anxiety that trailed the Nigerian general election, have started to taper as sentiments in its equities market turned positive yesterday as the All-Share Index (ASI) notched higher by 0.57 per cent or 184.6 basis points to close the session at 32,568.65 points.
Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date gains increased slightly to 7.01 per cent and 4.04 per cent, respectively while market capitalisation rose by N68 billion to close at N12.194 trillion from N12.126 trillion recorded on Friday. Activity level was however mixed as volume traded decreased 0.4 per cent to 219.80 million units while value traded increased 147.7 per cent to N5.54 billion, exchanged in 2,999 deals.Reacting, Analysts at Cordros Capital said, “In the absence of a positive catalyst, as well as the still tense political milieu, we guide investors to trade cautiously in the short term. However, stable macroeconomic fundamentals and compelling valuations remain supportive of recovery in the mid-to-long term”.
This is even as analysts at Afrinvest noted that investors remained cautious in yesterday’s trading session, adding that the market direction this week to be largely determined by the outcome of the election.
Investor sentiment as measured by the market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened as 25 stocks appreciated in value while 8 others depreciated.
Dangote Flour topped the gainers’ chart with 9.95 per cent to close at N11.05 per share. ABC Transport was next with a gain of 9.62 per cent to close at 0.57 kobo, Veritaskap trailed with 9.52 per cent to close at 0.23 kobo while Niger Insurance and Royal Exchange Plc garnered 9.09 per cent each to close at 0.24 kobo and 0.36 kobo respectively.
On the flipside, Union Diagnostics led the laggards with 6.45 per cent to close at 0.29 kobo per share. Total followed with 2.56 per cent to close at N190, Cutix fell by 1.58 per cent to close at N1.87, Flourmill declined by 0.99 per cent to close at N20 while Access Bank dropped 0.78 per cent to close at N6.35. Nigerian Breweries was the toast of investors with the sale of 42.71 million shares worth N3.55 billion, Diamond Bank sold 30.79 million shares valued at 75.49 million while Access Bank traded 20.70 million shares valued at N131.39 million.