With fresh investor confidence driving market capitalisation up by N59 billion, the Nigerian equities market began the week on a good note. Gains in Dangote Sugar Refinery and more than 40 other equities that drew new bargain hunting fueled this great performance.
Settling at 144,722.47 points, the benchmark AllShare Index (ASI) rose 94.27 points, or 0.07%. Market capitalisation increased in tandem to N91.561 trillion, indicating greater buying pressure in midcap and largecap equities. Dangote Sugar Refinery, Unilever Nigeria, Custodian Investment, Cadbury Nigeria, and Eunisell Interlinked all made notable gains among the main movers.
Analysts are pessimistic for the week. Coronation Capital forecast a mixed performance, noting that while profittaking may persist in stocks that have gained considerably since the beginning of the year, bargain hunting is expected to provide renewed strength in the banking and insurance sectors. Similarly, Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage noticed that, even as consumer products shares kept showing resilience, investor mood around banks may remain depressed ahead of half-year results.
The News Chronicle saw that the bullish opening was also based on increased activity in the insurance industry, where many companies registered remarkable price swings. With a ten percent gain each, AIICO Insurance and UPDC led the group, closing at N4.18 and N7.15 respectively. Custodian Investment also impressed with a 9.93 percent increase, settling at N40.95, while Cornerstone Insurance and DEAP Capital Management & Trust both recorded near doubledigit gains.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings topped the losers’ list on the other hand, down 9.99 percent to N100. PZ Cussons Nigeria dropped 7.89 percent to N35, while NEM Insurance slipped 7.85 percent to N29.95. Reflecting profittaking and less pessimistic in certain areas, Chams Holding Company and The Initiates Plc (TIP) also closed lower.
Trading volume fell by 16.56 percent to 1.147 billion units valued at N16.174 billion over 38,160 transactions, therefore somewhat slowing down trading activity. With 202.25 million shares worth N265.82 million, Universal Insurance dominated trading; Champion Breweries followed with 103.23 million shares worth N1.16 billion. Also prominent in the top trades of the day were Linkage Assurance, Lasaco Assurance, and Mutual Benefits Assurance; this demonstrated the great attractiveness of the insurance sector to both institutional and retail investors.
With 43 winners versus 27 losers, the market mood strongly inclined positive, suggesting ongoing investor appetite for value prospects in spite of persistent prudence in some industries.
