Equities Gain N29bn Amid Portfolio Rebalancing

The Nigerian equities market staged a marginal rebound on Tuesday, as renewed buying interest in select heavyweight stocks lifted the market up by N29 billion.

The NGX All-Share Index by 0.02 per cent to close at 254,289.35 points, strengthening its year-to-date return to 63.41 per cent. Consequently, market capitalisation increased by N29 billion, closing at N165.11 trillion.

The upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Transcorp Power, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Zenith Bank, e-Tranzact International and International Breweries.

Looking ahead, Cowry Assets Management Limited said, “selective accumulation in fundamentally sound counters could sustain the modest recovery, although negative market breadth and lingering selling pressure may constrain further gains.”

However, market sentiment remained bearish, with 32 decliners outweighing 19 advancers. University Press led the gainers chart by 9.52 percent to close at N4.60, while Omatek Ventures followed with a gain of 8.59 percent gain to N1.39, per share.

International Breweries Plc rose 6.47 percent to N9.05, while Royal Exchange and Guinea Insurance both gained 5.26 percent to close at N1.00 and 80 kobo respectively, per share.

On the flip side, Fortis Global Insurance led the laggards, shedding 10 percent to close at N1.53, per share. Vitafoam Nigeria followed with a 9.99 percent decline to close at N141.50, while Abbey Bank lost 8.73 percent to close at N5.75, per share.

Caverton Offshore Support Group dropped 7.58 percent to close at N3.05 and Livestock Feeds declined by 6.51 percent to close at N13.65, per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded gained marginally by 1.58 per cent to 525.439 million units, valued at N22.611 billion, and exchanged in 39,078 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zichis Agro Allied Industries led the activity with 127.480 million shares worth N2.167 billion. Access Holdings followed with an account of 42.594 million shares valued at N1.134 billion, while Chams Holding Company traded 25.415 million shares valued at N80.185 million.

VFD Group traded 23.241 million shares worth N289.942 million, while International Energy Insurance traded 19.456 million shares worth N33.642 million.