Capitalisation records marginal gains amid profit-taking

Profit-taking by investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) impacted trading activities, as the NGX recorded marginal gains yesterday, forcing market capitalisation to appreciate by N107 million.

Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased slightly by 0.20 absolute points, representing an increase of 0.0005 per cent, to close at 41,814.94 points, while the overall market capitalisation value appreciated by N107 million to close at N21.821 trillion.

The market performance was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks, which are; International Breweries, UAC of Nigeria (UACN), C & I Leasing, Lafarge Africa, and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI).

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “We expect the bullish run to be sustained, following nine months of 2021 earnings releases.”

Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “Q3 corporate earnings continue to fuel sentiments in the market and we expect investors to ride on this wave in the short-term, while still taking positions in fundamentally sound names.”

The market breadth closed positive, recording 22 gainers and 21 losers. Universal Insurance and University Press recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at 22 kobo and N1.65, respectively, while Courteville Business Solutions followed with a gain 9.76 per cent to close at 45 kobo, per share.

Abbey Mortgage Bank rose by 9.30 per cent to close at 94 kobo, while International Breweries gained 9.28 per cent to close at N5.30, per share.

On the other hand, Associated Bus Company led the losers’ chart by 8.82 per cent to close at 31 kobo, per share. FTN Cocoa Processors followed with a decline of 6.25 per cent to close at 45 kobo, while Cutix lost 5.47 per cent to close at N6.05, per share.

Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup) lost 4.61 per cent to close at N19.65, while Sovereign Trust Insurance shed 4.17 per cent to close at 23 kobo, per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume of trades depreciated by 47.63 per cent to 353.233 million units, valued at N5.570 billion, and exchanged in 5,322 deals. Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings (FBNH) topped the activity chart with 73.062 million shares valued at N906.755 million.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company followed with 25.039 million shares worth N715.263 million, while Universal Insurance traded 22.771 million shares valued at N4.919 million.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 20.331 million shares valued at N171.208 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) transacted 18.437 million shares worth N18.864 million.