23 stocks lead stock market’s N65 billion recovery

The Nigerian equities market reversed previous negative sentiments to close in an upbeat yesterday, as gains in Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals and 22 others lifted market capitalisation by N65 billion.

The All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 124.62 absolute points, representing an increase of 0.32 per cent, to close at 39,670.29 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) gained N65 billion to close at N20.669 trillion.

The market positive performance was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks including, MTNN, BOC Gases, Lafarge Africa, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) and Honeywell Flour Mills.
Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “We expect the positive sentiment to dominate tomorrow’s trading session amidst bargain-hunting opportunities in some large-cap stocks.”

Also, the market breadth closed positive with 23 gainers and 16 losers. Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals and NAHCO recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each, to close at N1.87 kobo and N2.97 kobo, while Honeywell Flour Mills followed with a gain of 9.96 per cent to close at N2.98 kobo.

BOC Gases rose by 9.90 per cent to close at N11.10 kobo. Pharma Deko Plc went up 9.79 per cent to close at N1.57 kobo.

On the other hand, Nigerian Breweries led the losers’ chart by 8.77 per cent to close at N52.00 kobo. Consolidated Hallmark Insurance followed with a decline of 6.67 per cent to close at 42 kobo, while Sovereign Trust Insurance lost 3.70 per cent to close at 26 kobo.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) declined 3.64 per cent to close at N5.30, while FCMB Group shed 3.50 per cent to close at N3.03 kobo.

The total volume of trades increased by 52.8 per cent to 201.840 million units, valued at N1.680 billion, and exchanged in 3,274 deals. Transactions in the shares of Courteville Business Solutions topped the activity chart with 34.829 million shares valued at N10.1 million.

ETI followed with 18.675 million shares worth N102.119 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 12.785 million shares valued at N12.472 million.

NAHCO traded 11.271 million shares valued at N31.774 million, while Honeywell Flour Mills transacted 10.981 million shares worth N32.722 million.