The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) equity market has continued the push upwards, as the All Share Index (ASI) rose for the seventh straight trading days for the third consecutive days this week.
Investors wealth increased by N20.016 billion as the capitalization settled at N13.214 trillion, while ASI rose by 0.15% to close at 25,330.10 on Wednesday.
On the gainers table are STANBIC (+4.49%), VITAFOAM (+5.63%), UACN (+6.48%), GUARANTY (+0.20%) among others.
Activity level
The activity level remained mixed, with a significant decrease (-28.11%) in the volume of stocks traded to 180.733 million whereas the value of traded shares rose by 7.91% to N1.355 billion due to increased activity in blue chip stocks contrary to what was seen on Tuesday.
The number of deals on the floor of the exchange continued to decline, although at a faster rate on Wednesday (-8.08%) compared to Tuesday rate (-0.64%). Total of 3,411 deals were done on Wednesday.
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FIDELITY bank took the reigns from TRANSCORP as the most traded stock by Volume, with 26.568 million shares worth N47.272 million exchanging hands in 72 trades.
Next in line are UBA (19.478 million shares worth N125.969 million traded in 172 deals) and ACCESS (18.953 million shares valued at N121.290 million traded in 136 deals)
In terms of value, NESTLE took the lead with 168,987 shares valued at N198.103 million traded in 52 deals deals.
Following NESTLE are ZENITH (10.204 million shares worth N172.792 million traded in 289 deals) and GUARANTY (6.373 million shares valued at N159.460 million traded in 227 deals)
The unusual activity seen on FTNCOCOA since Monday extended through Wednesday, resulting in its price movement for the first time in over two years.
Performance of Indices under our watch
The Insurance Index closed in red for the first time since Friday trading sessions. The Index was down by 0.92% to close at 130.75, due to losses in CORNERST, CUSTODIAN & WAPIC.
Industrial goods Index rose for the second day in row. The Index was up by 0.02% to close at 1,123.35. Similarly Consumer Goods Index rose by 0.16% to close at 425.62.
The Oil and Gas index closed flat for the second time this week.
Investor sentiment
Investor sentiment as measured by market breath (gain/loss ratio) strengthened on Wednesday to 3x, the highest level seen in months, from 0.75x on Tuesday. 24 stocks advanced on Wednesday with just 8 declining compared to 15 stocks which advanced on Tuesday with 20 declining..
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The top five gainers by percentage are;
- FTNCOCOA rose by 10.00% to close at N0.22
- NNFM rose by 9.76% to close at N4.50
- UPL rose by 9.56% to close at N1.49
- CHAMPION rose by 7.06% to close at N0.91
- UACN rose by 6.48% to close at N5.75
The top five decliners by percentage are;
- CORNESRT lost 9.68% to close at N0.56
- AFRIPRUD lost 6.67% to close at N4.20
- WAPIC lost 2.94% to close at N0.33
- LEARNAFRCA lost 2.73% to close at N1.07
- CUSTODIA lost 2.04% to close at N4.80
Analyst’s view
We expect the weak market performance to continue in the short term, as profit taking and bargain hunting combine to dictate the market pattern.
Written by;
Ifunanya Ikueze
