Bulls gain strength as investors’ wealth peaks by 0.1%

The bulls regained some strength at the end of yesterday’s transactions on the equity sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), occasioned by price gains in medium and high cap stocks, as market capitalisation appreciated by 0.1 per cent.
   
At the reopening of trading on Monday, the All-share index (ASI) rose by 31.77 points or 0.1 per cent to 27,950.36 points. Similarly, investors gained N16 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N13.622 trillion.
   
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, among which were: Nestle Nigeria, Dangote Flour Mills, C&I Leasing, Vitafoam Nigeria and Guaranty Trust Bank.
   
Analysts at APT Securities and Funds Limited said: “We are of the opinion that the market is set for a rebound. We, therefore, advise investors to accumulate fundamentally justified stocks at this time.”
   
United Capital Plc said: “Looking ahead, we expect performance to continue to be driven by the release of more financial results, as investors cherry-pick on dividend-paying names.”
   
Market breadth closed positive as 20 stocks posted gains while 14 stocks posted declines. C & l Leasing recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N5.50 per share.
 
Vitafoam Nigeria followed with a gain 9.95 per cent to close at N3.72, while Japaul Oil & Maritime Services appreciated by 9.52 per cent to close at 23 kobo per share.
   
Dangote Flour Mills went up by 9.19 per cent to close at N19.60, while McNichols appreciated by 8.89 per cent to close at 49 kobo per share. On the other hand, Total Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 9.96 per cent to close at N114.80 per share. Chams followed with a decline of 7.14 per cent to close at 26 kobo, while Ecobank Transnational Inc (ETI) went down by 5.33 to close at N8.00 per share. 
   
UACN Property Development Co. lost 5.04 per cent to close at N1.13, while Mutual Benefits Assurance shed 4.76 per cent to close at 20 kobo per share.the total volume traded declined by 28.84 per cent to 93.11 million shares, worth N1.11 billion, and traded in 3,056 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 11.26 million shares valued at N208.25 million. 
 
Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) followed with 9.99 million shares worth N9.87 million, while Lasaco Assurance traded 7.97 million shares valued at N2.92 million. Guaranty Trust Bank traded 6.89 million shares valued at N196.60 million, while Access Bank transacted 6.33 million shares worth N40.69 million.