March 18, 2020
By Paschal IJEH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian equities market on Wednesday closed positive spurred by buy-interest activities; following investors speculation on the shares of MTN Nigeria and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc; as benchmark index gained 1.09 percent to close at 22,789.64 basis points.
InvestmentOne report says similarly, in the session’s trade, market breadth index was positive with 19 gainers compared to 14 losers.
According to the report, communications giant, MTN Nigeria Plc with a gain of +10.00 percent to emerged the topmost gainer, while Sterling Bank Plc with a loss of -10.00 percent led the losers’ chart.
Dual listed lender, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) with a gain of +6.63 percent was the most actively traded stock with about 178 million units of shares worth about N3.52 billion.
In terms of sector performance, InvestmentOne update says that the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Banking index rose by 2.07 percent, due to the buy-interests in the shares of Unity Bank Plc and primary mortgage firm, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc; both surged +9.52 percent and +8.60 percent respectively, while GTBank and Wema Bank Plc rose by +6.63 percent and +2.08 percent apiece, Fidelity Bank Plc climbed up with a gain of +1.14 percent.
Still on the positive side, the NSE Oil & Gas index was up by 0.84 percent, as a result of the gains in the shares of Eterna Plc and oil marketing major, Oando Plc gained +9.90 percent and +9.95 percent each.
On the flip-side, the NSE Consumer Goods index shed 1.53 percent, as a result of the declines in the shares of food and beverage producer, Nestle Nigeria Plc and Vitafoam Nigeria shed -3.86 percent and -1.50 percent apiece.
Similarly, the NSE Industrial index decreased by 1.00 percent, due to the sell-offs in the shares of Nigeria’s most capitalised listed company and cement producer,Dangote Cement Plc and peer Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria Plc; both plunged -3.12 percent and -1.82 percent respectively.
Performance of key stocks
S/N | Stock | Current Price (N) | 1-day change (%) | Week to date change (%) |
1 | ACCESS | 6.05 | 0.00% | 12.04% |
2 | DANGCEM | 133.40 | -3.12% | -12.81% |
3 | FBNH | 4.00 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
4 | FIDELITYBK | 1.78 | 1.14% | 5.95% |
5 | GUARANTY | 20.90 | 6.63% | 10.00% |
6 | MTNN | 104.50 | 10.00% | 12.12% |
7 | UBA | 5.35 | 0.94% | -13.01% |
8 | SEPLAT | 544.50 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
9 | ZENITHBANK | 13.50 | 0.00% | 13.45% |
10 | OKOMUOIL | 55.05 | -8.25% | -8.25% |
Source: InvestmentOne Research
“The equities market closed up today due to the gains recorded in Banking and Oil & Gas sectors. While we believe the risk-off sentiment on the back of weak oil price as well as the impact of Coronavirus could have caused the recent sell-off in the market, we opine that this may be one of the best periods to start picking some of the quality names with a medium to long term horizon,” the InvestmentOne report affirmed.
