NSE daily report: Market continue upwards trajectory on BUA Cement Plc wings

It was another positive day for the Nigerian Stock Exchange, as its benchmark index advanced by 1.03%. The NSE All-Share Index settled at 39,512.31 points, an incredible 91.16% rise from its lowest point in April during the lock-downs that came with the Coronavirus pandemic.

The market capitalization added N213.372 billion, moving from N20.446 trillion from the close of business on Tuesday to N20.660 trillion on Wednesday.

The rise of JAPAULGOLD’s share price continued with market participants still scrambling to acquire the shares of the Oil and Maritime services company that has now pivoted to Gold and Mining.

FTNCOCOA, whose share price was rising alongside that of JAPAULGOLD until Tuesday 29th December, saw its share price continue its maximum decline for the second day in a row, closing at N0.73, having hit highs of N0.97 on Tuesday.

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On Tuesday, 22nd December, 2020, Investogist reported that BUA Cement would be adding significant new production capacities, and since then, the share price has risen from N55.00 to N70.40.

Activity Level

The activity level was mixed, as the volume of shares traded decreased by 48.39%, while the value of stocks traded increased by 162.57% on the back of high volume of Dangote Cement stocks that were traded.

Trading in Dangote Cement Plc shares alone accounted for N8.041 billion of the N11.502 billion value of shares traded on the Exchange. Dangote Cement, through stockbrokers’ Meritem Securities Limited and Vetiva Securities Limited commenced its “Tranche I” share buyback on Wednesday, 30th December, at the prevailing market price. Up to 85,202,537 fully paid-up ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each, representing 0.5% of the entire current issued shares will be procured from the market on 30th and 31st December, 2020.

UBA Plc shares was the most traded by volume, with 60.569 million units, followed by Dangote Cement Plc with 33.166 million units and Zenith Bank Plc with 27.541 million units.

Shares of Dangote Cement Plc were the most traded by value with shares worth N8.041 billion exchanging hands in 432 deals. Shares of Zenith Bank Plc (N690.852 million) and UBA Plc (N524.734 million) were the second and third most traded shares by value.

Performance of Indices

3 out of the 5 indices under our watch closed in green, while the other 2 closed in red;

Industrial Goods Index advanced by 3.74%, on the wings of BUACEMENT (+10.00%)
Insurance Index rose by 2.99% due to buying interest in NEM (+9.40%), LINKASSURE (+8.33%) and MANSARD (+5.00%) amongst others.
Consumer Goods Index was up by 0.36%, as a result of price appreciation in INTBREW (+10.00%)
Oil and Gas Index declined by 0.39%, dragged down by OANDO (-3.31%)
Banking Index dipped by 0.71%, as sell-offs in bellwether banking stocks persisted through the day; ACCESS (-2.15%), GUARANTY (-0.61%), ZENITHBANK (-0.20%)

Investor Sentiment

Investor sentiment strengthened to 1.2x from the 0.9x recorded on Tuesday, as 23 stocks advanced against 19 that declined.

The top 5 gainers by percentage are;