Equities Investors Reap N84bn In Bullish Run

The Nigerian equities market, yesterday, began the trading week on a positive note with a gain of N84 billion, following bargain hunting in Aradel Holdings Plc and 23 others.

The All-Share Index (ASI) gained 137.75 points, representing a gain of 0.14 per cent to close at 97,373.94 points. Also, market capitalisation rose by N84 billion to close at N59.004 trillion.

The upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Aradel Holdings, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Custodian Investment, Eunisell Interlinked and John Holt.

Looking forward, United Capital Plc said, “the equities market is expected to retain its buy interest as investors cherry-pick undervalued stocks. However, given the high interest rates in the fixed income and money markets, we expect some bearish undertone to persist in the equities market as fixed income biased investors take advantage of the high yields in the fixed income space.

“Nevertheless, the Bulls will remain incentivized to persist in bargain hunting, given the tremendous mid-long-term opportunities in the equities market.”

However, market breadth closed negative, as 24 stocks gained relative to 27 losers. Eunisell Interlinked emerged the highest price gainer of 10 per cent to close at N9.02, per share.

Aradel Holdings followed with a gain of 9.99 per cent to close at N533.80, while John Holt up by 9.98 per cent to close at N5.29, per share.

Deap Capital Management and Trust rose by 9.35 per cent to close at N1.17, while Custodian Investment appreciated by 8.62 per cent to close at N12.60, per share.

On the other side, United Capital led others on the losers’ chart with 9.78 per cent to close at N16.15, per share. Sovereign Trust Insurance followed with a decline of 7.25 per cent to close at 64 kobo, while Prestige Assurance declined by 6.67 per cent to close at 56 kobo, per share.

Consolidated Hallmark Holdings lost 5.88 per cent to close at N1.60, while Tripple Gee & Company depreciated by 5.49 per cent to close at N1.72, per share.

The total volume traded decreased by 37.82 per cent to 297.830 million units, valued at N7.518 billion, and exchanged in 9,902 deals. Transactions in the shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company led the activity with 36.132 million shares worth N180.861 million. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with account of 33.497 million shares valued at N1.041 billion, while Access Holdings traded 24.595 million shares valued at N590.091 million.

Flour Mills of Nigeria traded 15.034 million shares worth N977.287 million, while FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 14.523 million shares worth N398.274 million.