Equities Market Extends Winning Streak With N1.698trn Surge

The Nigerian equities market, on Monday, extended an upward movement with a gain of N1.698 trillion, as portfolio managers and income investors deepened their buy interests in fundamentally rooted stocks.

The All Share Index (ASI) rose by 2,645.61 points, representing a growth of 1.39 per cent to close at 193,073.57 points. Also, market capitalisation gained N1.698 trillion to close at N123.934 trillion.

The bullish outing stemmed from price upticks in Presco, Okomu Oil, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Guinness Nigeria and Skyway Aviation Handling Company.

On market outlook, Imperial Asset Managers Limited stated that “we anticipate sustained interest in fundamentally sound equities in next session. However, considering that tomorrow is the last trading day of the week, we may likely see an increased profit taking, compared to the numbers seen today.

Therefore, we continue to recommend that investors focus their portfolios on highly liquid, dividend-paying stocks.”

Market breadth closed positive with 49 advancing stocks outpacing 28 declining counters. DEAP Capital Management & Trust, Okomu Oil and Fortis Global Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N6.93, N1, 459.70 and 55 kobo respectively, per share.

Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank and Zichis Agro Allied Industries followed with a gain of 9.96 per cent each to close at N14.35 and N15.79 respectively, while Japaul Gold & Ventures rose by 9.91 per cent to close at N3.66, per share.

On the other hand, McNichols, Multiverse Mining & Exploration, Secure Electronic Technology and Tripple Gee & Company led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each to close at N8.28, N25.20, N1.80 and N5.40 respectively, per share.

Meyer followed with a decline of 9.80 per cent to close at N20.70, while John Holts declined by 9.43 per cent to close at N9.60, per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded fell by 75.51 per cent to 898.481 million units, valued at N38.476 billion, and exchanged in 61,953 deals. Transactions in the shares of Japaul Gold & Ventures topped the activity chart with 80.122 million shares valued at N293.248 million. Secure Electronic Technology followed with 71.774 million shares worth N136.487 million, while Mutual Benefits Assurance traded 58.678 million shares valued at N277.559 million.

Zenith Bank traded 53.224 million shares valued at N4.515 billion, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company sold 52.628 million shares worth N6.198 billion.