Stock Market Off To Positive Start With N278bn Gain

The stock market trading week yesterday commenced on a positive note, as gains in Presco Plc and 45 others pushed the overall capitalisation up by N278 billion.

The All Share Index (ASI) gained by 441.43 points, representing a growth of 0.37 per cent to close at 118,579.65 points. Accordingly, market capitalisation rose by N278 billion to close at N74.812 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Presco, Beta Glass, Vitafoam Nigeria, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) and NASCON Allied Industries.

Looking forward, United Capital Plc said, “the equities market might continue in its upward trend leading to a slight gain in the ASI. This is hinged on the market benefiting from the excess liquidity in the financial system.

“Similarly, investors might start positioning for Q2 earning season in June, favoring corporates with FX gains, cost control, clear growth trajectory, and those with potentials for quality interim dividend payment. We advise investors to cherry pick fundamentally sound stocks with potential for interim dividend payment.”

Market sentiment remained broadly positive, as reflected by a strong market breadth, 46 stocks recorded gains against 22 losers. Beta Glass, Champion Breweries, FTN Cocoa Processors, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals and Presco recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N303.60, N9.02, N3.08, N4.07 and N1,210.00 respectively, per share.

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University Press and Legend Internet followed with a gain of 9.97 per cent each to close at N6.62 and N8.71 respectively, while Ellah Lakes rose by 9.94 per cent to close at N5.81, per share.
On the other hand, Julius Berger Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 7.48 per cent, to close at N117.50, per share.

Chams Holding Company followed with a decline of 5.09 per cent to close at N2.05, while Secure Electronic Technology declined by 5.00 per cent to close at 57 kobo, per share.

Multiverse Mining & Exploration depreciated by 4.66 per cent to close at N9.20 and Red Star Express declined by 3.85 per cent to close at N7.50, per share.

The total volume traded advanced by 29.74 per cent to 653.657 million units, valued at N21.327 billion, and exchanged in 22,206 deals. Transactions in the shares of Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 141.710 million shares valued at N2.665 billion. Zenith Bank followed with 46.255 million shares worth N2.347 billion, while Nigerian Breweries traded 38.092 million shares valued at N2.209 billion.

FTN Cocoa processors traded 37.976 million shares valued at N115.904 million, while Access Holdings sold 37.930 million shares worth N843.734 million.